(Radio Iowa) — The 2019 Iowa legislature has voted to create a new specialty license plate and ironically, perhaps, the design is often called a reverse. The design is a black background, with white letters and numbers. The legislation refers to it as the “blackout” plate. It will be nearly identical to the specialty plate design available now for alums and fans of Dordt College in Sioux Center.

The new plates just won’t refer to the Dordt College Defenders. Daniel Yeh is manager for vehicle services at the Iowa Department of Transportation. “We’ve already started the design work and the initial samples for the ‘black out’ plate,” Yeh says.

There is an additional charge for all specialty plates, including this “blackout” version. “We are planning to take orders for the plate starting on July 1st,” Yeh says. “We are hopeful that the production and delivery would happen shortly thereafter.”

Posts on social media indicate a few Iowans have been buying the Dordt College plates, then buying a frame to cover up the reference to the Christian college in northwest Iowa. According to the D-O-T, about 800 Dordt College license plates had been issued by last March.

Officials from Dordt College have not responded to Radio Iowa’s request for comment about the new plates with a look that mimics the Dordt Defenders’ design.