NDPlateBismarck (CSi) On Thursday, North Dakota began issuing the first new license plate in more than 20 years.

The state Department of Transportation announced that it has began issuing the new “Department Director Grant Levi stressed that the new flat plate will be distributed to vehicle owners through the regular license plate renewal process. Once a motorist pays their motor vehicle registration fees they will receive the new flat plate in the mail.

The new plates are being mailed to residents who recently renewed online and have also been distributed to all motor vehicle branch offices statewide. The distribution of the new plate will occur in phases:

  • In this first phase the standard 6 X 12 plate that is used on most vehicles and standard trailers will be replaced.
  • During the second phase, which takes place in 2016, the smaller 4 X 7 plate that is on motorcycles and small trailers will be replaced.

The new design still features a bison and sheaves of wheat in the foreground and a North Dakota landscape as the backdrop, but the new images were derived from photographs instead of drawn.

The new plate keeps the state’s nickname, the Peace Garden State, but replaces the old “Discover the Spirit” tourism slogan at the top with the current “Legendary” slogan.

The 2013 Legislature appropriated more than $6.8 million to cover the cost of issuing a new general license plate for the first time in 23 years, in part because older plates had started to fade and lose their reflectivity and features, a concern for law enforcement agencies.