Washington Anacostia River Regplates

Today, the District adds one more license plate to its short list of vehicle tags promoting certain organizations or causes. (My personal favorite? The National Association of Black Scuba Divers.)

This morning, the District’s Department of Transportation tweeted that a new Anacostia River-themed license plate is now available to residents. The plate, which they revealed on their Facebook page, was part of the 2009 legislation that added a five-cent fee on the use of plastic bags and seeks additional funds and attention for the cause of cleaning up the more often overlooked of the city’s two rivers.

The new plate features the silhouettes of two kayakers and what looks like a heron or an egret holding a fish in its beak. It bears the letters “ENV” above the standard “Taxation Without Representation” tag line. An early version of the plate, pictured here, featured Canada Geese instead of the herons; those were likely removed due to the city’s longstanding feud with the messy birds. Oddly, the word “Anacostia” doesn’t appear anywhere on the plate.