POLITICS

Oops! Banner attached to wrong end of Wright Flyer in new Ohio license plate

Jessie Balmert
Cincinnati Enquirer
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday unveiled the new "Sunrise in Ohio" license plate, which is expected to be available at the end of the year.

Ohio unveiled its new license plate Thursday, depicting the Wright Flyer as a symbol of the state's place in aviation history.

The only problem: The banner is attached to the wrong end of the plane. 

On Ohio's new license plate, "Sunrise in Ohio," a banner that reads "Birthplace of Aviation" flies in the sky as if attached to the plane's smaller "elevators." But that's actually the front of the Wright brothers' history-making plane. 

The Wright Flyer as depicted on the new "Sunrise in Ohio" license plate.

In flight, the pilot faces the smaller elevators, meaning the back of the plane is near the propellers. To be accurate, the banner should be on the opposite side of the plane in Ohio's new license plate. 

Later Thursday, Ohio Department of Public Safety fixed the design by flipping the plane. The corrected design will be used on Ohio's plates released on Dec. 29.

"We are aware that the plane on the new Ohio license plate unveiled this morning was oriented in the wrong direction. We regret this mistake and have fixed the image," the Ohio Department of Public Safety said in a statement. 

Rejected license plates: Ohio BMV turned down these requested plates in 2020

In this photo, Orville Wright controls the Wright Flyer and his brother Wilbur watches from the ground during the plane's first flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Dec.17, 1903. On the Wright Flyer, the elevators are at the front of the plane instead of the rear. The new Ohio license plate incorrectly displays a banner flying behind what is actually the front of the plane.

Ohio will recycle the 35,000 plates that had already been printed. Inmates at Lebanon Correctional Institution started making the plates earlier this month. 

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.