OGDEN, Utah — Within the next year, Utahns will have a new license plate option, a design meant to honor the life and work of one of the most iconic social activists in American history.
Josh Loftin, spokesperson with the Utah Department of Heritage & Arts, said the state’s newest license plate, which will be available to the public in approximately six months, is meant to celebrate diversity and inclusion, specifically by highlighting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Emblazoned with the slogan “Many Voices, One Utah,” the new license plate features the artwork of Timpview High student Eleanor Smith. Smith’s design was chosen by the Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission after the group reviewed a number of different entries.
Emma Houston, current MLK Jr. Commission chair, said the new plate is representative of what Utah in many ways already is but should continue to strive to be: welcoming and proud to celebrate and embrace diversity.
“We are proud to live in a state that honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” she said.
Loftin said the idea for the King license plate originated in 2012, with a legislative bill filed by former Utah House member Rebecca Chavez-Houck. Longtime former Sen. Howard Stephenson, of Draper, was a co-sponsor of the bill. In 2020, Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, and Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, reintroduced the license plate bill with updated technical changes and the measure passed.
According to the Utah Division of Motor Vehicles, Utah currently has three standard issue license plates: an “In God We Trust” plate, a “Life Elevated” plate that features a skier and the slogan “Greatest Snow on Earth,” and another “Life Elevated” plate with the famous Arches National Park landmark. The state has had four other plate designs that are no longer issued, but are still valid for use on vehicles.
Loftin said the new King plate will cost a total of $21 and can be obtained through a request to replace a current license plate with the DMV.
Ogden resident Dr. Forrest Crawford, who was a co-founder and first chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission, says all of those involved should be commended for the work on the license plate project.
Crawford has long been a champion of King’s legacy and was involved in a 2018 push to raise money and petition Ogden City to extend the honorary Martin Luther King Jr. Street name on 24th Street. The Ogden City Council voted to extend the naming all the way to Harrison Boulevard and Crawford and others worked to raise $12,000 to pay for necessary signage. The honorary street designation for Latino civil rights activist César Chávez on 30th Street was also extended as part of the measure.
“Ever since Utahns have observed King’s birthday around the late 1960s, diverse communities sought to underscore what he really means to the continuing evolution of humanity,” Crawford said. “In Utah, we have taken the affirmative step, supplanting his endearing legacy as a beacon for all our aspiration — young and old.”