BEATRICE – Nebraska residents will have a new license plate, for 2023. Governor Pete Ricketts and First Lady Susanne Shore revealed the new plate, at a news conference Tuesday in Lincoln.


The First Lady says the plate was designed by Drew Davies and was among about a dozen designs submitted. The plate, white with blue letters, has a design based on part of the capitol building floor, in its background.


"Drew chose one of the beautiful mosaics of the capitol, as the inspiration. And this, is the genius of creative energy. And if you want, you can walk down the hallway, and just as you walk toward the rotunda, you can find it on the floor."


Capitol Administrator Bob Ripley says Nebraska just recently observed the 100th anniversary of the design process of the state capitol building.
"The building is like a history book. Chambers within the building are like chapters in the book. I compliment the vision of the First Lady and of the team for putting this particular piece of art work in. Because, if there is a frontispiece in this giant three-dimensional history book, this mosaic is it. It's the first picture you see when you walk into the capitol...it's the image on the floor."


Department of Motor Vehicles Director Rhonda Lamm says planning, design and logistics for the new plate began about 18 months ago.
"Plate production began earlier this month and will continue through the end of the year to provide adequate inventory in the counties, to begin issuing the plates in January of 2023. In addition to the production of the new passenger plates, we'll also be producing new commercial-farm and the other, nearly one hundred different types of plates....resulting in the printing of over three million plates between now and the end of the year."


Lamm expects the state to produce nearly eight million of the new plates over its six-year life cycle.


Governor Pete Ricketts says the new plate departs from past practice of using a typical Nebraska scene…but he says that’s not a bad thing.
"What a beautiful building we have here. We have this type of art that is available for the public to see just about any day of the year. I think that's a cool thing to be able to let people know that we've got things here in Nebraska that you may not expect."


Acknowledging the inevitable, Shore says there’s not much doubt the plate will have its detractors.


"It is inevitable that there is going to be criticism. It's sort of a state sport in every state to criticize the license plate. It's not unique to Nebraska, but I think time will show this will become a very beloved license plate...I certainly hope so."


Vehicle owners will receive their new plate from their county treasurer’s office in the month their vehicle’s registration expires.

2023 Plate unveiled
2023 Plate unveiled