Dear Action Line: I’ve started noticing more and more solid black (with white lettering) and solid red Colorado license plates. When did those become available? And why do people even want those? Some “vanity” plates make sense, because they’re for a cause or commemorate something, but these seem to be just to match your car’s paint scheme. Please fill me in. – Seeing Red (and Black)
Dear Red: You’re going to feel a little silly and perhaps a bit sheepish when you hear the answer. Sometimes it’s not all about vanity.
You ready?
This is basically a way that the state Legislature found to raise money for a good cause: the Colorado Disability Funding Committee. When someone purchases these plates, $25 from the fees collected goes to this committee.
Plus, the plates are historical. Some old fogies and collectors undoubtedly have the actual old-time plates hanging up in their shed or garage, or hanging by one screw off their Model-T.
There are four plates being made for this purpose, all with white lettering. The black plate is based on the 1945 Colorado plate. The blue is based on 1914, the red on 1915 and the green on the 1962-1999 plate.
The green plate was reissued in 2021, and it’s basically today’s plate with the green and white reversed. Should the mountains be green or white? You get to decide.
La Plata County Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Lee pointed Action Line to the answer, and had this to say:
“Very popular plate this year, especially black and white.”
The Disability Funding Committee is a 13-member governor-appointed panel that examines methods of aiding those with disabilities. Its mission statement: “to maximize support for new and innovative programs benefiting Colorado’s disability community.” It was created by Senate Bill 22-217, which also authorized the printing of license plates for this cause.
Action Line agrees that many people are getting these plates to match their black Tundra or F-250, but if it helps a good cause …
While rooting around, Action Line also noted that historic 150th anniversary plates have been available since August, and will remain available until July 2027.
These are to commemorate Colorado’s statehood on Aug. 1, 1876. That day, we became the 38th state. Action Line’s calculations show that means the 150th anniversary – the “sesquicentennial” – isn’t until Aug. 1, 2026. But why wait and be caught unprepared? Those plates are $8.06, according to the Division of Motor Vehicles website.
Those who want to purchase specialty plates such as these can request them during registration at either a motor vehicle office or online, said Tammie Barnes, administrative supervisor with the La Plata Clerk’s office. Specialty plates are not stocked at motor vehicle offices, but are mailed directly to the vehicle owner.
Barnes said La Plata County has sold 85 of the 150th anniversary plates.
Maybe Action Line spends a little too much time rooting around, but anyone worth their “Pikes Peak or Bust” bumper sticker has to admit this is interesting: Did you know that Coloradans voted down statehood in 1864, just like they voted down the Olympics a century later? What an independent lot we are.
Then, in 1867, President Andrew Johnson vetoed Colorado statehood. Maybe for good reason: The legislation was unclear on whether Blacks should have the right to vote. One Eastern “gentleman” said this at the time (from the History Colorado website):
“The (Colorado) population, such as it is, is made up of a roving and unsettled horde of adventurers, who have no settled homes there or elsewhere, and are there solely because the state of semi-barbarism prevalent in that wild country suits their vagrant habits.”
Action Line asks: Has anything changed?
Sometimes this column goes off on a tangent. Fortunately, this was not one of those times. Thanks for reading.
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Colorado was the only state admitted in a long stretch after Nebraska (37th state, 1867) and before North and South Dakota (39th and 40th, 1889).
