The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has denied a Confederate group's latest attempt to create a specialty license plate celebrating Confederate soldiers, a design that does not include the Confederate battle flag.
The department's board voted 5-3 Thursday to reject the license plate design proposed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans' Texas chapter, which features a rebel soldier carrying a Texas regiment's special flag at a Civil War battle.
The plate was backed by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who said "there's no profit in hiding our history."
"The Confederate flag is one of the six flags that flew over the state,” he said. “There’s no profit in hiding our history and trying to rewrite history."
The decision marks the second time the board has rejected the group's specialty plate, following a denial of a Confederate battle flag design that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015.
The recent design was criticized as looking similar to an existing plate that raises money for theTexas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund.
See all available Texas specialty license plates.
