Tennessee 'In God We Trust' license plates are popular in Knox County

Tennessee’s redesigned blue and white standard license plates debuted last year, and with them came a lot more plates featuring the phrase “In God We Trust.” In fact, the amount of “In God We Trust” plates nearly quadrupled as drivers renewed their vehicle registrations in 2022.

The blue plates became available January 2022 and come in two standard versions: one just with the state flag’s three-star emblem and the other with the phrase “In God We Trust” written around the emblem.

But that’s not the only difference. The two standard plates also have reversed serial formats, making it easy to determine which version drivers have based on the configuration of a plate’s numbers and letters.

Now that most drivers would have switched to the new plates, just over 29% of Knox County vehicles with the standard license plate option have the “In God We Trust” version. That's a jump from 7.7% of Knox County vehicles that had the phrase featured on the old standard green license plates in 2021, according to data the Tennessee Department of Revenue provided to Knox News in June.

More than 80% of all vehicles in the county – including those with specialty plates – simply had the standard plate without “In God We Trust” in 2021. That number dropped to around 62% in 2022.

The data also showed a double-digit increase of 11% in specialty plates as people renewed their registrations last year. Specialty plates now make up around 11% of all plates in Knox County.

Data the Department of Revenue provided showed the number of active standard and specialty registrations in Tennessee and Knox County during 2021 and 2022.

Knox County had a total of 401,567 active registrations in 2022. It should also be noted that there were about 3,300 more active vehicle registrations in Knox County in 2022 than in 2021.

Number of all plates in Knox County with “In God We Trust”

Number of all plates in Knox County without “In God We Trust”

Number of total active vehicle registrations in Knox County

Statewide, the number of “In God We Trust” plates increased by nearly 173% from 2021 to 2022, according to Department of Revenue data.

About 36% of drivers in Tennessee with the standard plates have the “In God We Trust" version, while 64% of vehicles with standard plates do not. These percentages drop to around 31% and 56%, respectively, when specialty plates are factored in, which accounted for around 13% of all Tennessee plates in 2022.

Number of plates in Tennessee with “In God We Trust”

Number of plates in Tennessee without “In God We Trust”

Number of total active vehicle registrations in Tennessee

The Tennessean reported in March which Tennessee counties had the most "In God We Trust" plates by percentage based on data available at the time.

Based on data at the time, these counties had the fewest "In God We Trust" plates according to the Tennessean's March report:

Tennessee law requires all green license plate holders to get the new blue plates – or a different specialty plate, if they choose – when they renew their plates. The new standard blue plate comes in two versions; one features the phrase “In God We Trust” and the other does not.

The plates quickly sparked a statewide debate. Some drivers said they weren't given a choice when they renewed their registration, and many noticed the order of letters and numbers was different depending on whether drivers choose the In God We Trust version of the plate.

The standard plates use an ABC 1234 configuration, while the In God We Trust version reverses the configuration to 123 ABCD.

It raised concerns among drivers who speculated (or feared) the formats were designed to easily identify religious beliefs or political leanings.

But a Tennessee Department of Revenue spokesperson told Knox News last year that the serial formats for these specific plates have been used since 2017 to ensure the state has enough unique combinations to use on new individual plates.

Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email [email protected]. Twitter @dturner1208.

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