Revenue Dept. Clears “ARYAN” Plate, Explains Personalized Plate Review

Last updated on 2019-09-28

Remember the “ARYAN” license plate a Facebook friend noticed in Pierre last week? I asked glancingly how the Department of Revenue let that plate fly. Department of Revenue called and explained that, yeah, they did let it fly. Revenue Secretary Andy Gerlach says he reviewed the application for that customized plate and found the term has a family connection and is not an expression of white-supremacist attitudes.

Secretary Gerlach pointed out that Revenue has a fairly rigorous review process for personalized plates to keep dirty words, hate speech, exhortations to lawlessness, or hard-to-read character combinations (“8B8B8B”is out) off the road.

One dedicated staffer researches proposed plate personalizations in the dictionary and multiple online resources, including Urban Dictionary.  (which notes that Aryan is, among other things, a common surname in Iran, the ancient spelling of “Iranian”, and an old Persian and Sanskrit word for “noble”… the latter two claims standing in contrast to this post from PBS: Frontline that says the term “Aryan” was coined by a French Orientalist in the early nineteenth century, was imported to Iranian culture from the West, and has no common or consistent usage in ancient Persian texts). The reviewer in Pierre also consults a county treasurers’ advisory group and law enforcement when necessary.

Reviewing personalized license plate apps is nearly a full-time job. In the last few years, the number of applications has increased from an average of 81 per working day to a current 109 per day (in an eight-hour shift, that’s a little more than 4 minutes, 23 second per app):

Calendar Year	Personalized Plates	Denied Plates	Denial Rate	Apps per business day
2014	20,348	206	1.00%	81
2015	21,415	200	0.93%	85
2016	24,992	247	0.98%	100
2017 (as of 4/28)	8,953	25	0.28%	109

If applications continue at the rate for the first four months of this year, the 2017 personalized-plate count will surpass 27,000. Secretary Gerlach notes that the rejection rate this year is remarkably low, less than a third of previous years’ rates. Secretary Gerlach hopes this drop results from Revenue’s efforts to make South Dakotans familiar with the process and criteria for personalized plates.

You can apply online for your personalized plate. The form asks applicants to explain the meaning of their proposed plate characters. If Revenue rejects an applicants seven characters (six for motorcycles), the department refunds the $25 ($20 for two-wheelers) application fee. Revenue also takes complaints about personalized plates already on the road and will revoke a plate that “does not meet the standards of good taste and decency” but slipped through their review policy.