Kama‘āina of a certain age will remember that one of the most ubiquitous signs that we were celebrating the bicentennial was the Hawai‘i licenses plate of that era. What you might not recall is that not everyone was a fan.
"Whether you like them or not, you have to admit that the new license plates for the State of Hawai‘i are peculiar," wrote Honolulu Star-Bulletin reporter Lois Taylor on Jan. 23, 1976.
"The question comes to mind that why did whoever designed them stop where he did? He managed to work in Diamond Head, a pair of palm trees, King Kamehameha and a hibiscus. OK, but there's all that space behind the trees. What prevented him from adding Don Ho, Sealife Park, Aloha Tower and Steve McGarrett? What is the significance of the pink and blue color scheme? Is it because we are the newest, the Baby State? A charming concept."
Taylor then goes on to describe her quest to find the person responsible for the plate.
The State Office of Information and Youth Affairs said the City probably did it. The City's Office of Information and Complaint said a committee did it. City Finance Director James S. Sakai, a committee member, referred her to Richard Goto, who explained that the previous plates — black text on a yellow background — had been issued since 1969 and the oldest were needing to be replaced, so it seemed to someone like a good time to make a change. The Lieutenant Governor's office, which had the responsibility of ordering news plates as needed, got the design from the state's Bicentennial Commission.
"Some like it, some people don't," Goto told Taylor. "Are you liked by everybody? This is life. People tend to be more critical than appreciative."
The man who ordered the plates was Jimmy Lee, who had been with the Department of Accounting and General Services. He recalled in that article:
"There were maybe 20 different designs, samples of other states' bicentennial license plates, artist's renderings, samples from the 3-M Company that makes the reflectorized material. ... I was the purchasing agent, so I had to stay out of it. It was their decision. It looks like some tourist postcard. It was a real disappointing day for me when I saw it, but we'll get used to it."
The "touristy" perception lingered and the state eventually held an art contest to introduce a new plate 1981, featuring a Native Hawaiian warrior bust in orange, centered on a white background with brown letters and numbers. Simpler — but still "designed" in a way not seen before the bicentennial plate.
Hawai‘i was not the only state to issue a bicentennial design. ASD reached out to Alex Di Giovanni, owner of LicensePlateCollecting.com, for the history of such plates.
Another Kaua‘i bicentennial Hawai‘i plate (LicensePlateCollecting.com) 
Pennsylvania was the first state to issue a bicentennial plate in 1971, featuring the Liberty Bell. (LicensePlateCollecting.com) 
Nebraska's bicentennial plate. (LicensePlateCollecting.com) 
Michigan's bicentennial plate. (LicensePlateCollecting.com) 
Alaska's bicentennial plate. (LicensePlateCollecting.com)
"Around the country, the bicentennial plates were some of the first 'graphic' plates that states issued and they opened the door to a lot of the fun designs on plates that we see today," Di Giovanni told ASD via email. "The first state to celebrate was Pennsylvania in 1971 with their Liberty Bell base that was used through 1976."
He's penned a longer piece here, listing the 18 states and jurisdictions that created bicentennial plates and getting into more of the history and impact of these designs.
"After 1976, Bicentennial plates began trickling off American roads as registration cycles turned over," he writes. "Washington D.C., Georgia, Montana, and Virginia were four of the last Bicentennial plates that remained through the mid-1980s. Montana’s plate held on until 1991, a remarkable 15-year run, the longest of the standard issue plates. However, Virginia’s outlasted them all! The Virginia Bicentennial plate still remains available for registration renewals, and examples with stickers as recent as the mid-2010s are documented. What an extraordinary lifespan for a plate tied to a single commemorative event!"
Hawai‘i's current rainbow plate, first issued in 1991, has ruled the roads for 35 years.
We'll have them for foreseeable future, too. After the city announced in early 2023 that the rainbow would be retired, HawaiiNewsNow reported in October 2023 that, "after a public backlash, the customer services department has found a way to extend the letter-number combinations to keep the plates around for years to come."
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A. Kam Napier can be reached at kam@alohastatedaily.com.
