Georgia officials recently approved a specialty license plate featuring the Confederate battle flag, infuriating civil rights advocates and "renewing a fiery debate," the Associated Press reported.
The new $80 license has fueled a debate between those who believe the battle flag honors Confederate heritage and those who view it as a symbol of oppression, the AP reported.
Maynard Eaton, Southern Christian Leadership Conference spokesman, said on Tuesday that Georgia officials should not have allowed the battle emblem to appear on a Georgia tag, The Atlanta journal-Constitution reported.
"To display this is reprehensible," Eaton said. "We don't have license plates saying 'Black Power.' "
Sons of Confederate Veterans spokesman Ray McBerry told The Atlanta journal-Constitution there was no intent to offend anyone, and the move to commemorate the southern heritage. He added that he state would be discriminating if it rejected the group's design application.
"By sanctioning the plate, they are not saying they agree with our organization. They're just saying it's a level playing field," he said. "Southerners have as much right to be proud of their heritage as anybody else."
The Motor Vehicle Division of the state Department of Revenue approves proposed designs for specialty plates.
The new Confederate flag plate replaces one that was already in circulation.
"The new design places the St. Andrew's flag in the background across the entire tag," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. "Like the old plate, it also features the flag in the square logo of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It adds the organization's name across the bottom of the tag, where the name of the issuing county typically appears."
State Gov. Nathan Deal told The Atlanta journal-Constitution the new tag was a surprise to him.
"I hadn't heard that so I don't know anything about it. I'll have to talk to them about it. I had no information in advance about it," Deal said.
