Here's What Ohio Did With The License Plates That Had The Most Ironic Error

Earlier this year, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles confirmed an ironic error on a new state license plate design. The “Birthplace of Aviation” design included a plane that “was oriented in the wrong direction,” the BMV confirmed in October.

The new license plate design — the first update in nearly a decade — aimed to “[honor] our past” with the Ohio-born Wright Brothers’ first plane. But the design that was initially unveiled appeared to travel in the backward direction that the brothers would fly.

Although the mistake was quickly called to attention and corrected, about 35,000 of the plates were printed. The Ohio Department of Public Safety planned to recycle the license plates with the erroneous design, the Columbus Dispatch noted in a new report. The original design was chalked up to an “honest mistake,” and the new designs will be available on December 29.

“This morning Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio BMV Registrar Charlie Norman unveiled Ohio's new standard license plate,” the Ohio BMV stated in a tweet on October 21. “The new plate will be available to drivers starting Dec. 29. Ohio last updated its standard license plate design in 2013.” A few hours later, the BMV issued another tweet: “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.”