As of February 1, 2014, the Sons of Confederate Veterans have a totally new Special License Plate available to all Georgians. The new design has already been approved and is now available as part of the state's new format which allows for digital images for license plates instead of the traditional raised letter format.
The new design of the SCV's special license plate features a much more prominent logo of the organization with larger stars and a beautiful Confederate battle flag image in the background and covering the entire size of the plate. Additionally, the plate features a gold frame with the words "Sons of Confederate Veterans" displayed where the county name was previously featured on the plates.
The design for the new plate previously submitted by the SCV also featured the carving on Stone Mountain, the largest Confederate monument in existence; however, Silver Dollar City which has leased the Park from the state of Georgia claims to have the carving trademarked and refuses to allow other entities to use it. At present, the Sons of Confederate Veterans has challenged the right of any private corporation to trademark a symbol which belongs to the people and state of Georgia and is considering further action to void the trademark claim of Silver Dollar City; but the new alternate license plate design was submitted by the SCV so as not to delay its production.
In addition to the promotion of Southern Heritage which comes from every license plate which is on the roads, a financial contribution of $10 from the tag fee is made to the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans to promote Southern Heritage through educational activities and preservation efforts around the state. Since the program's inception several years ago, hundreds of thousands of dollars from the sale of the SCV specialty plates have gone toward such projects as the cleaning and maintenance of statues and monuments, the preservation of the last standing chimney of the Confederate Powderworks in Augusta, the erection of numerous other monuments across the state, the production of educational literature and posters, and even Southern history segments on radio and television across the state as part of the Sesquicentennial commemoration of the War for Southern Indpendence.
Georgia SCV Division Adjutant Tim Pilgrim had this to say about the new plates, "This specialty tag is the most attractive license tag that the State of Georgia has to offer. The new design will be available starting in February, and I would encourage members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and all Citizens of Georgia to ask for the newly designed Sons of Confederate Veterans specialty tag when it is time to renew your tags. It is a truly beautiful and honorable tag to display to all that travel our highways and roads. Remember that $10 of the renew fee does go back to the Sons of Confederate Veterans to help fund historical projects through-out the State of Georgia."
An image of the new SCV Special License Plate may be found online at
www.GeorgiaSCV.org; and, again, the plates are available to all Georgians regardless of whether they are members of the SCV or not. Georgians must request the specialty plate at the time that they renew their tag each year at their local county tag office.
