Identity, Banal Nationalism, Contestation, And North American License Plates*

Abstract

In the early 1900s, U.S. state and Canadian provincial governments began to register automobiles and issue license plates to their owners. Within several decades of the first issuance of license plates, state and provincial governments began to use these plates for advertising purposes, such as promoting local economies and tourism. In recent decades, however, governments have used license plates to promote national identities and nationalist ideals. Using examples from the United States and Canada, I examine how governments have used such banal signifiers of place as license plates to craft and promote these identities and how drivers have contested that usage.

• automobility
• banal nationalism
• contestation
• identity
• license plate

I wish to thank Tom Chapman, Frank Crooks, Jason Dittmer, Ben Forest, Pauliina Raento, Tim Stentiford, Gerald Webster, and the anonymous reviewers for their advice and assistance with this project.

I wish to thank Tom Chapman, Frank Crooks, Jason Dittmer, Ben Forest, Pauliina Raento, Tim Stentiford, Gerald Webster, and the anonymous reviewers for their advice and assistance with this project.

Notes

I wish to thank Tom Chapman, Frank Crooks, Jason Dittmer, Ben Forest, Pauliina Raento, Tim Stentiford, Gerald Webster, and the anonymous reviewers for their advice and assistance with this project.