Sept. 4, 1951

On this day, Alabama lawmakers approved legislation requiring vehicle plates to include a heart and the phrase “Heart of Dixie.” The law took effect in October 1954. The words had been used for several years by the then-Alabama State Chamber of Commerce as a promotional slogan. Over the years, the designs of license plates have changed and the state has added a variety of specialty and custom plates. But to this day, all state-issued plates have either a heart or the phrase Heart of Dixie. Most sport both.

Read more at the Alabama Department of Archives and History and the Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division.

Alabama public safety officers pose astride their motorcycles in Montgomery, 1936. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the Alabama Department of Public Safety)

Alabama passenger vehicle license plate, 1955. (Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, Wikipedia)

Alabama passenger vehicle license plate, 1973. (Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, Wikipedia)

Alabama license plate, 1998. (Marduk, Wikipedia)

Alabama State Troopers pose with their motorcycles on the lawn of the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery in 2010. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the Alabama Department of Public Safety)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.