Virginia DMV honors Navy’s 247th birthday with new license plate
The state that is home to the world’s largest naval base is finally getting a special Navy license plate.
The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles announced Thursday it will offer a special license plate honoring active duty and veteran sailors. The announcement coincides with the service branch’s 247th birthday.
The Navy plate joins roughly 60 other military-themed plates available to Virginia motorists who support the country’s armed forces, veterans, disabled veterans and military families. Plates for the Navy Reserve, Naval Air Station Oceana and the Navy Cross were available — but none for the branch itself until now.
“We are proud to add the United States Navy as an option to those who are bravely serving or have served our country,” said Linda Ford, acting commissioner of the DMV.
The plate, which is the only military-themed, revenue-sharing plate in the state, was authorized by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in March after state Sen. Jennifer Kiggans, a Virginia Beach Republican, introduced the legislation in January.
The special plate is five years in the making — a project that a local retired Navy captain took on in 2017. Roger Hirsh, who served three decades active duty in the Navy and another 10 years in civil service as a pharmacist at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, designed the plate and collaborated with legislative sponsors to help push the bill through the General Assembly.
“It has been quite an adventure. It reminds me of something my father used to say — ‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.’ There is some truth to that,” Hirsh said with a laugh. “I had no idea it would take this long.”
The lengthy “lone ranger” effort, he said, has been fun and educational — although frustrating at times due to unexpected expenses and “a mountain of red tape.” Just securing permission to use the Navy’s emblem from the branch’s Trademark Licensing Office took about four months.
Hirsh was then tasked with securing 450 paid pre-orders as required for the DMV’s specialty plate authorization. To find interested motorists, he started a Facebook group called “NAVY PLATE VA,” printed business cards, pre-filled applications and even approached people on the street wearing Navy clothing to gauge interest. He finally gathered 450 orders in the summer of 2021. He had 568 locked in as of April.
“But it was certainly worthwhile,” he said.
Now that his efforts have come to fruition, Hirsh said he is excited to see the plates out on the road and generating revenue to give back to sailors and marines.
The plate is available for a $25 annual fee. After 1,000 plates have been issued, $15 from each purchase will go to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society fund. The society provides financial and educational assistance to members of the Navy and Marine Corps, their eligible family members, widows and survivors.
Those eligible to purchase the plate are active duty sailors, those who have been honorably discharged after at least six months of active duty or those who have retired from the Navy. The plate can also be purchased by surviving Navy spouses who have not remarried.
Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com
