--- description: The Texas DMV was within its rights to reject a proposed license plate design that included the Confederate flag. title: Texas Can Reject Confederate Flag License Plates image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Courts](/tag/courts/) ## Courts Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Supreme Court Rules Texas Can Reject Confederate Flag License Plates ## Video: Court: School Can Make Students Turn U.S. Flag Shirts Inside Out [Watch (HLS stream): Court: School Can Make Students Turn U.S. Flag Shirts Inside Out](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/12Mn0ihW.m3u8) (1:22)  _Published 2014-02-28. A federal appeals court ruled Thursday a California school requiring students to turn their American flag shirts inside out did not violate their constitutional rights._  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 18, 2015 5:45 PM CUT  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 18, 2015 5:45 PM CUT The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles acted lawfully in rejecting a license plate displaying the Confederate flag. The court ruled that license plates represent “government speech,” meaning the Texas DMV can control license plate contents without limiting the rights of the private parties who submit designs or slogans, according to the [5-4 ruling](http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-144%5F758b.pdf "undefined"). The Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) had applied for a line of specialty license plates with its own design depicting the Confederate flag logo in 2013\. The group argued the DMV violated the free speech clause of the First Amendment when it rejected the design for being offensive to the public, and [the case reached the Supreme Court](http://time.com/3621085/confederate-flag-license-plates/ "undefined") in December. “Each plate is a government article serving the governmental purposes of vehicle registration and identification,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the majority. The ruling also asserted that the government is itself protected by the Free Speech Clause, so the Texas DMV is free to set its own limits for accepting specialty plates. In this case, the SCV design — a square Confederate flag, encircled by the group’s name and founding date, all superimposed over a faded Confederate flag receding into the distance — crossed the line. A designer of a controversial Georgia license plate featuring the Confederate flag [told TIME in 2014](http://nation.time.com/2014/02/20/confederate-flag-georgia-license-plate/ "undefined") that the plates were intended to celebrate history, and not cause offense. “The design is just people trying to show who they are and trying to be proud of their heritage,” said Jack Bridwell, state commander of the Georgia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3926420/supreme-court-texas-confederate-flag/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3926420/supreme-court-texas-confederate-flag/"},"headline":"Supreme Court Rules Texas Can Reject Confederate Flag License Plates","datePublished":"2015-06-18T17:45:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:19:59.632Z","description":"The Texas DMV was within its rights to reject a proposed license plate design that included the Confederate flag.","url":"https://time.com/3926420/supreme-court-texas-confederate-flag/","keywords":["Courts","Texas","Supreme Court"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/courts/","name":"Courts"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3926420/supreme-court-texas-confederate-flag/","name":"Supreme Court Rules Texas Can Reject Confederate Flag License Plates"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Court: School Can Make Students Turn U.S. Flag Shirts Inside Out","description":"A federal appeals court ruled Thursday a California school requiring students to turn their American flag shirts inside out did not violate their constitutional rights.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/12Mn0ihW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-02-28T18:25:49.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/12Mn0ihW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3926420/supreme-court-texas-confederate-flag/","duration":"PT1M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3926420/supreme-court-texas-confederate-flag/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```