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Maryland resident as well. I believe you payed a few extra dollars for the commemorative license plate.

The war that is being advertised is the one where the British were a bit frustrated that we didn’t accept their ways, and they were coming back to take what was theirs. They rolled up to DC and burned everything except a few buildings. Legend has it that Madison and family left the White House so fast that when the British arrived, the food was still warm on the table.

The British then rolled up to Baltimore thinking it would be an easy capture just like D.C. was.

They were wrong, and we ended up causing them to pack up and leave in defeat.

The war is prestigious to Maryland because over 3,000 militia members from Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania successfully kept the worlds superpower at bay, saving Baltimore and probably the rest of the country.

> I believe you payed a few extra dollars for the commemorative license plate.

I am absolutely 100% positive that I neither paid extra dollars for the War of 1812 commemorative license plate, nor was offered an option -- this was the "standard" plate in 2012, no other "standard" plate was available, this was what you got unless you wanted to pay for a "specialty" plate.

Perhaps in 2013-2016 it was different. Or perhaps if you already had a standard pre-2012 plate, you could pay to replace it with the commemorative one? But if you were getting new plates in 2012, you got this one as the default option. I am sure.

Other interesting historical facts about the War of 1812 include all the native indian nations who allied with Great Britain in the desperate futile hope that somehow they could stop their inexorable disposession and ethnic cleansing by the USA.

Indeed, it was the standard plate issued for several years (2010-2016). You could also pay a $20 fee to change from an existing plate to the 1812 commemorative one.

https://web.archive.org/web/20101128031616/http://starspangl...

Maybe they should have first checked with the other kind of Indians what it is like to live under the rule of Britain? :D

They referred to them as Indians because they resembled the people they had seen in India before.

> They referred to them as Indians because they resembled the people they had seen in India before.

No.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tribal-Nomenclature-America...

"The word Indian came to be used because Christopher Columbus repeatedly expressed the mistaken belief that he had reached the shores of South Asia. "

They referred to them as Indians because Christopher Columbus was a lousy navigator.

Everyone knew the world was round in the 15th century.

They had a good idea how far it was from Europe to the east coast of Asia going westwards.

They knew that an ocean going ship wouldn’t have enough provisions to make the journey.

Columbus thought the earth was far smaller and he would be able to make it. He was wrong. Fortunatly for him there was a large landmass in the way which meant he could get restock his provisions (water, food etc)

That was still in formation in 1812, but, yeah, I don't have any particular reason to think the native nations would have done better with a different outcome of the war of 1812, but I certainly understand why some nations figured it was worth a shot and they probably wouldn't do worse.

Anyway, I still don't want to advertise war on my license plate.

The natives in Canada probably didn't do much better in Canada between the war of 1812 and the Riel Rebellion, but it certainly helps now. British law said we couldn't settle the land without a treaty with the natives. This didn't really stop settlement but it does mean that some tribes have forced significant monetary settlements from the Canadian government. Some money for broken treaties, and some for settling without a treaty.

Good point. Canada just being generally a lot less populated by Europeans for whatever reasons than the USA (presumably in large part climate?) probably helped too, creating a context with slightly better outcomes.

But different legal regime under Great Britain -- and different position as colony of a European state vs independent "we're all we've got" -- does seem likely to be relevant, good call.

I suppose the best case for native nations in the War of 1812 would be that both USA and Great Britain get weakened and distracted from further colonization for as long as possible.

I can see how it might be chosen as the "standard" license plate for 2012 - it is the anniversary of The War of 1812, after all.

It was also during the attack on Baltimore that Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the Star Spangled Banner, a point of pride for Maryland

Unrelated to the license plates, but the war is remembered differently in Canada, in Britain, and by historians. I think Wikipedia has it right calling the war "indecisive". In Canada, the war is remembered as the time we trounced the Yankees and burned the White House. The Brits don't think much of the war at all. Historians say its much more complicated of course, but the key facts to remember are (despite what the Canadians say) the troops that burned the White House were British regulars, not Canadian militia, and that the militia was highly unreliable and had significant levels of desertions (despite the national pride now). It's also good to keep in mind that Britain was in the midst of a total war with Napoleonic France and that the Americas were a sideshow. The US distinguished itself early with the frigate battles, like the Constitution vs Java, but then there was the Shannon vs Chesapeake.

The high rate of desertions should be a point of pride, it was a dumb war.

It is embarrassing that the British Empire couldn’t achieve a full victory against what was, at the time, a regional power. It is embarrassing that the US couldn’t fend off a sideshow invasion. It is embarrassing the whole thing couldn’t have been sorted out diplomatically.

Nothing was accomplished by the war but a bunch of buildings burning down and some tens of thousands dying. The deserters look pretty good in retrospect.

> The Brits don't think much of the war at all.

I've never studied history, and especially have never studied it abroad, but I think I've just always assumed that nations who've lost wars don't generally spend a lot of time educating their students about them.

I'm sure there are exceptions to this - World Wars 1 and 2 seem too big to go missing from literature, for example, and perhaps this is my naive, too-literal interpretation of "history is written by the victors," but I'd just always expect losses to either be minimized, or be taught exclusively to vilify a persistent enemy.

Mostly just... the British have a LOT of history and so the stacked ranking of wars over the course of just the British Empire includes over a dozen more consequential wars than the War of 1812. The poor high school students have enough names and dates to remember!

The Vietnam war might be another exception.

it really is a shame we (the US) were not able to take all of the land that is now Canada...

Except for the Star Spangled Banner being written, it mostly isn't remembered at all in the US. The French and Indian War got more coverage in my US history class and that is a pre-revolution British/French war.

The US declared war. They were pissed off about many things, but one of the more notable ones was that they were frustrated that the UK was supporting the sovereignty of Native American nations, which hindered the westward expansion that many people in the US viewed as their birthright.

The UK was actively making concessions to try and avoid war. The United States declared war anyway.

The UK then taking the fight to DC was absolutely fair game. People are allowed to fight back when you attack them.

The UK made concessions too late. By the time they decided to stop kidnapping* American sailors and forcing them to work in the British Navy, the war had already started.

*impressment is the word they used.

> The war is prestigious to Maryland because over 3,000 militia members from Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania successfully kept the worlds superpower at bay, saving Baltimore and probably the rest of the country.

They didn't learn from it, because at the other end of the war, the British regulars were decisively handled by another ragtag group that they didn't think much of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Orleans

I can think of at least a dozen other undeveloped peoples who successfully kept the Brits, then the worlds superpower, at bay. Superpower or not, infantry was never the British forte. In my opinion, logistics was. But logistics wins wars, not battles.

That's a pretty one-sided description of the War of 1812. The whole thing was a bit of a fiasco and an attempted land-grab of territories controlled by Native American nations allied to the British by hawkish Senators from border states who wanted to make a name for themselves by advocating for it. The war ended with the British agreeing to status quo ante-bellum, even though America started the war. The general upshot is just that the British-allied Native Americans were, by treaty, supposed to have their territorial integrity respected but the British didn't think it was worth the hassle to enforce those provisions so those Native Americans all got pushed aside.

It doesn't really have clear "winners" or "losers." Really more like Britain getting stung by a bee while it was in the middle of something (War with France) and finding that rather inconvenient, but successfully fending off the bee's (America's) attempt to take its house.

Well, what you describe does actually have clear winners and losers -- just not between the US vs GB. The settlers are the winners, and the natives are the losers.

I love mandatory glorification of this on my license plate. Advertising for a casino is just icing on the cake.

> Well, what you describe does actually have clear winners and losers -- just not between the US vs GB. The settlers are the winners, and the natives are the losers.

True. That is often disregarded in how we talk about nation-state competition.

Hear, hear! Two color plain stamped plates. Our vehicle's tags don't need to be a weird advert no one cares about. It's bad enough to get forced into paying for a reissue (remember when NY changed to yellow-and-blue and started charging for keeping the old plates?), doubly so when it's for some bureaucrat's amusement on having a "fun" plate.

The European way is even plainer: countries choose either black on white or black on yellow.

The country puts their code ("DK", "S" etc) on the left.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_vehicle_registration_...

Eh, I like my choice of plate design here in NC.

Our previous, Save The Honeybee: https://scontent-iad3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/138097239_1...

Current, NC Aquariums: https://www.obxtoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/NCA-plat...

Next, Venus Flytrap: https://i.redd.it/v1d1vce3uks31.jpg

Funds from these support the cause on the plate typically.

> Funds from these support the cause on the plate typically.

What percentage, though?

Not enough I'm sure but more than zero. Out of the $30 you pay for the plate it looks like $20 goes to the fund for that cause. So it's not a small amount.

Wow, that's significantly better than I was expecting!

> State MVA puts a URL it does not own or control in any way on a license plate that will last for decades, never even considers that the URL could change hands, is pretty hilarious.

I'm not a resident, but I found this hilarious as well. I think putting any URL on a license plate (or similar) is poor form, actually, but one that you don't actually control and take pains to ensure you keep registered? Hilarious level incompetency right there.

Depending on how sophisticated the operators are, it's possible hostage level pricing could still be low six figures. They may not actually realize just how valuable what they've scooped up actually is. At government scale, I'd actually say anything <$1m is probably less costly in total than any kind of action involving replacing a recall of rollback or existing plates.

They could change the law in MD allowing these plates to cover the URL with a sticker. Hopefully of a url of your choosing.

Pretty sure it's already legal to do this so long as your tag number is still legible.

> I don't want to advertise flags and wars on my license plate

I chuckled a little at this because the Maryland flag is on EVERYTHING in Maryland, including the current standard license plate.

To be fair the Maryland flag is easily one of the best state flags. It fails the "Could you easily draw it from memory" test but the design and color scheme more than makes up for that. I'd put it everywhere too.

I remember spending a day in fourth grade during Maryland history reproducing the flag on construction paper. (Admittedly that was many years ago; my children apparently didn’t get this exercise.) The Crossland parts are pretty easy; the Calvert parts are a little harder. The tricky parts are getting the number of pales correct, and coloring in all the countercharges correctly (i.e. where the red goes vs. white, and where the black goes vs. yellow).

Maybe just slap a sticker on the URL?

One of the side benefits of driving a truck is that most states do not do anything to their Truck Plates..

Mine is a Plain white piece of metal, with black letters, no logo, no seals, no anything. White and black

Would you be willing to try replacing your plates with Chesapeake Bay plates? I don't recall the add-on being that high.

$20 then $10/renewal forever. Renewal I guess is every two years?

Yes. I actually had to fully replace my plates this year because one was quite literally flaking apart, and full replacement was $155.

can't you just get a different license plate if you want to though

If you give more money to the incompetent agency, yes.

In the uk its trivial to replace a plate. What would you do if it falls off? Over here i've seen number plates written by hand on a white card.

> number plates written by hand on a white card.

Those aren't legal, although you can probably get away with them for a while.

The UK has extremely detailed and demanding standards for number plates: https://www.bnma.org/advice-centre/the-new-rules-british-sta...

But you can choose from many different suppliers.

Here in the US, you have to get them from the DMV, but the legibility requirements are so low. The backgrounds, narrow font, and minimal reflectivity all make them much worse than those in the UK and Europe.

(Lack of enforcement is also a problem: I lived in the UK for ~10x the time I've lived in the US, but in the US I've seen ~10x as many cars with missing numberplates.

As far as I could tell, my options for doing that were:

1. Reporting my plate as stolen or damaged (assume there's a replacement fee, don't know how much)

2. Paying $20 and then $10/year forever for a "specialty" plate.

Granted, even though I'm complaining about this like a grumpy old man, I have spent probably 20 minutes on three occasions looking into it by googling. If someone can find a free way (or even reasonable one-time fee) for me to get a standard plate without having to lie about it being stolen or damaged (or getting someone to steal or damage it haha), do point me to the procedure. In general, as expected, doing most anything with the MVA is a really confusing maze of bureaucracy, so I have some conditioned fear of trying it even if there is a procedure (but I haven't found one).

I am now wondering what, say, Jehovah's Witnesses did, I bet they and/or other religious groups would not be okay with a flag on their car for religious reasons.

You have to pay yearly for a specialty plate on top of registration fees? Is this a Maryland thing or have I been lucky enough to only get a specialty plate in a state that charged a one time fee?

Yes, in Maryland. Every state is different (i'd imagine not every state even has "specialty" plates), I don't know what's more common.

But I imagined the whole reason they have "specialty" plates is revenue generation?

https://mva.maryland.gov/about-mva/Pages/info/27300/27300-29...

I think "specialty" plates are silly. I am old enough to remember when there was one option, and for every state it was white letters on a different solid color background, and that was fine.

In Florida, the fees paid for specialty plates are given directly to an organization which established the plate -- typically a charitable organization. So they're a way to support, while also providing personalization. The $25/year for my plate goes directly to my alma mater. Even Disney set up their plates to go to the Make a Wish Foundation.

I pay $100 a year for WI specialty plates.

You can damage it yourself. Seems pretty straightforward.

Probably against the law (especially if you plan on continuing to drive the car waiting for replacements), but you'd probably get away with it. (more risky if you or your car attract police who want an excuse to mess with you). Good answer though.

If you don't want to feel like you're lying you can consider the URL now pointing to a gambling site to be damage. It's effectively been defaced.

Does the new one look similar to the old one, just with a different border?

If my level of bother for the website would have been higher than my appetite for legal risk I'd be checking the statutes and covering it with a proper paint job that does not damage the actual plate info

Or a piece of blue tape.

I came home from a motorcycle ride one day and my plate was simply gone. It fell off somewhere out in the highway.

I’m pretty sure I didn’t have exclusive rights in to badly tightened bolts.

This was in CA, but there was no police report or anything. I imagine plates fly off cars with some routine each year all over the country.

Contact your DMV and look up what’s involved with replacing a lost plate. At most they’ll likely want the matching pair (I assume they come in pairs in MD) back and a small fee.

This is a great solution. People take their plates off to clean grime off. If you did that and did a lousy job putting the screws back in then nature would likely take its course.

> Paying $20 and then $10/year forever for a "specialty" plate.

Relatively cheap compared to many other states.

"You can just" and "Can't you just" phrases should trigger you to think twice.

The phrases show poor empathy on your part: It's a hassle to go to the RMV and get another plate, it's a hassle to update any place where your plate needs to be registered, it costs money...

You don't have to drive

As if war and flags didn’t build the society you enjoy today. And they will build the society for future generations to enjoy. Whether they like it or not.

Of things that built the society I enjoy today, I am fully aware that, for instance, enslaved labor and stolen land built the society I enjoy today -- I am not in favor of the government forcing me to advertise that fact positively on my car.

Certainly human history is full of war and violence, and that is what has led to where we are, sure. That doesn't mean we need to glorify it. Or that the state has to impose the glorification of it on car identification plates.

What's with the proto-fascism on HN these days? Scary times.

I’m just saying be realistic. Everything that exists today can be judged easily. Future generations will crap on us for various reasons too while enjoying all the benefits.

Sent from my iPhone, unfortunately built using slave labor in the supply chain. I could use an android but it probably does the same or worse. To others who are equally complicit whenever they use a computer. Should I remove the apple sticker I placed on my car?