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Move over Goldfinch. Iowans could have the option to buy a custom yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” license plate under a bill advancing through the Iowa Senate.
An Iowa Senate subcommittee voted 2-1 to advance Senate Study Bill 1162, allowing it to move to the full Senate Transportation Committee. The three-person committee passed the bill along party lines with both Republicans voting in favor and the lone Democrat opposing.
If passed, the bill allows the Iowa Department of Transportation to issue custom license plates with the “Gadsden flag” on them.
This is the third year in a row that lawmakers have proposed legislation to allow the “Don’t Tread on Me” license plate. In 2024, a bill was passed by the Iowa House, but it was never taken up by the Iowa Senate.
The Gadsden Flag was designed during the Revolutionary War in 1775 by Christopher Gadsden. The flag and its slogan are associated with individual liberty, limited government and gun rights. In recent years it has been a mainstay at conservative rallies and protests.
The Gadsden flag plates will cost $50, along with an annual $50 fee in addition to the normal annual registration fees. If Iowans want the plates personalized, there is an additional $25 one-time fee and an extra $5 annual charge.
Funds from Gadsden license plates will go to promote Second Amendment
Funds from the fee would go to the Department of Public Safety to be distributed as grants to “provide education and training on the right to keep and bear arms.” The department must give first consideration to “official state associations of the National Rifle Association” and other similar non-profits, according to the bill.
The funds would not go directly to the NRA, said Nicholas Buggia, a lobbyist with the National Rifle Association of America who supports the bill. The Iowa Firearms Coalition is considered the official state association for the NRA. It is an affiliate, but it remains independent from the NRA, said Richard Rogers, a lobbyist for the coalition.
Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, said he appreciates how funds are going to gun safety education. If the bill passes, grants could be used for scholarships with an emphasis on youth education in firearm use, Rogers told the subcommittee.
“I will say that to me the Gadsden flag license plate is a simplified embodiment of the State of Iowa’s flag: Our liberties we prize and our rights we maintain,” Rogers said.
Sen. Liz Bennett, D-Cedar Rapids, didn’t take issue with Rogers’ comparison, but she did call out Iowa lawmakers for not upholding Iowa’s motto for transgender Iowans as House and Senate Republicans look to strip gender identity protections under the Iowa Civil Rights Act. She voted against the bill’s advancement.
“I just wish this body would take that seriously with regard to transgender Iowans, so a little bit of disconnect there,” Bennett said regarding Iowa’s state motto.
What would the license plates look like?
The background of the plate would be yellow at the top and bottom and fade into white toward the center. The numbers will be black. The left side of the plater will feature a black and white rattlesnake on green grass. The phrase “Don’t Tread on Me” will appear on the bottom of the plate.
Reporting contributed by Stephen Gruber-Miller.
Kate Kealey is a general assignment reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at kkealey@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17.