A state program lets Montana nonprofits design special license plates to help raise funds for their organization. There’s an option for any charismatic Montana animal, university sports team or social cause you want to support. There are also three versions of a 'Don't Tread on Me' plate. One listener wants to know why. MTPR's John Hooks has the story behind the state's 200 license plate options – including the most popular choice.
Austin Amestoy: Welcome to the Big Why, a series from Montana Public Radio where we find out what we can discover together. I’m your host, Austin Amestoy. This is a show about listener-powered reporting. We’ll answer your questions — large or small — about anything under the Big Sky. By Montanans for Montana, this is The Big Why.
Our reporter John Hooks is back for this episode. Hi John!
John Hooks: Happy to be here Austin!
Austin Amestoy: What do you have for us this episode?
John Hooks: Our topic concerns the multitude of options Montanans have when picking a license plate for their car.
Austin Amestoy: There’s so many! I feel like picking one out is a fun rite of passage when you get a new car in Montana.
John Hooks: Absolutely – and there’s an option for basically any charismatic Montana animal, university sports team or social cause you want to support.
Austin Amestoy: Well I’ve just got a standard-issue one. But I’m curious, what’s our specific question on the plates?
John Hooks: We got a question that asked why there are three different 'Don’t Tread on Me' plate options?
Austin Amestoy: Ok, I’ve definitely seen those around. They’re sort of highlighter yellow, with the rattlesnake and the slogan.
John Hooks: Yeah those are definitely the most visible.
But there are also two black versions; one that’s the reverse of the yellow one, black background with yellow snake and lettering. The third has white lettering and technically says ‘Don’t Tread on MT’
Austin Amestoy: Oh interesting, I’d actually never noticed those ones were any different.
John Hooks: Yeah you have to get really close before it’s clear.
And just as a quick refresher for folks, the snake and the slogan come from the Gadsden Flag, which was popularized during the American Revolution. These days it’s become mostly associated with the Tea Party movement and broadly conservative/libertarian politics.
Austin Amestoy: Ok, so why do we have the three, outside of just aesthetic differences?
John Hooks: It all stems from the Montana Motor Vehicle Division’s Sponsored Plate Program, which began in 2002. To explain some of this is MVD’s Mike Walker.
Mike Walker: It was an opportunity for Montana to give nonprofit organizations another avenue for them to generate money for their causes.
John Hooks: The program lets Montana nonprofits design special plates. Those are generally around $30-50 more than the standard-issue ones. And that extra money goes directly to the sponsor organization.
Austin Amestoy: So the three Gadsden plates come from three different nonprofits?
John Hooks: Yes, each plate is sponsored by a different group, although they are all Conservative public policy groups from Billings.
Austin Amestoy: I’m curious about what kind of vetting process MVD goes through with organizations and plate designs?
John Hooks: The state does do a good bit of vetting on these, but it’s all technical more than editorial. On an organizational level, sponsors have to prove their nonprofit status, and a host of Montana-specific conditions. Here’s Mike Walker again.
Mike Walker: You're required to have a yearly certification that you are spending 75% of that revenue in Montana. We also require that you use a bank that is located in Montana. It really revolves around Montana.
John Hooks: On the design side of things, MVD goes through a thorough review, but all they’re really concerned with is making sure there’s enough contrast so the plate number stands out against the background.
Mike Walker: We also want to make sure that our law enforcement officers are safe and they can read these plates easily.
Austin Amestoy: So basically, if you can prove you’re a Montana-based nonprofit and make the numbers clearly visible, you can do whatever design you want?
John Hooks: Exactly.
Austin Amestoy: I’m wondering about how popular, and how much money, these organizations make off the Gadsden plates.
John Hooks: So on the money side, I’ve only found good info for the bright yellow plate. That one is sponsored by a group called the 1776 Foundation. Their latest financial report is from 2023, where they report getting over $140,000 from plates that year. They say that’s the highest year they had on record. That’s around 4,600 plates.
Austin Amestoy: That at least sounds like a lot, do you have any idea where that fits in among the top selling plates overall?
John Hooks: I was able to get some data from MVD on this. There are six plates that are far and away the top all-time sellers – and none of the Gadsden plates are there. Yet.
Austin Amestoy: Interesting! But now I gotta ask, what is the top selling plate?
John Hooks: the top plate over the lifespan of the sponsored plate program is the one sponsored by the Bird of Pray Foundation. That’s pray with an 'A', not an 'E'. It’s a Christian humanitarian aid charity.
Austin Amestoy: I’m not familiar with the group.
John Hooks: I wasn’t either, but I can about guarantee you’ve seen the plate. It’s a clean, dark gray background with a mountain silhouette and stark white numbers.
Austin Amestoy: Oh yes, looking at it now I’ve seen that out in the wild all over the place.
John Hooks: What’s interesting is, in those top six, they basically all look like that. They’re from all kinds of different groups from across the state, but their commonality is a very similar design: Dark backgrounds, simple designs and white lettering.
Austin Amestoy: So, it seems Montanans’ choices are maybe motivated more by aesthetics than by the particulars of the sponsors when picking their plates.
John Hooks: I think that’s a fair inference.
Austin Amestoy: Ok, I just have two final questions for you. First, do you know how much money overall gets raised through this program?
John Hooks: I did get some info for last year from Mike Walker:
Mike Walker: You know, I didn't expect this when I looked this information up this morning, but, last year, 2024, there were 427,184 sponsor plates that were sold. Quick math here, let's see – almost $13 million for nonprofits that help their causes.
Austin Amestoy: Wow, that’s way more license plates in a year than I was expecting. Ok, my last question, I remember hearing a rumor when I was growing up that Montana has the most license plate varieties of any state in the country. Do you know if that’s actually true?
John Hooks: I definitely heard that as a kid too, and maybe it was true at one point. But currently, Montana is actually only 11th in the country for plate options.
Austin Amestoy: Eleventh, that’s kind of disappointing.
John Hooks: It is a little underwhelming. For context, Montana has just over 200 options, though plates get added and removed each year. The top state in the nation is Maryland, with 989 options.
Austin Amestoy: Oh wow, if I was registering a car in Maryland I think I’d get analysis paralysis trying to pick a plate.
John Hooks: Me too!
Austin Amestoy: Well thanks for getting this info for us John.
John Hooks: My pleasure.
Austin Amestoy: Now we want to know what makes you curious about Montana. Submit your questions below, or leave a message at 406-640-8933. Let's see what we can discover together! Find us wherever you listen to podcasts and help others find the show by sharing it and leaving a review.
