GLEN BURNIE, Md. -- The red glare of brake lights on vehicles across Maryland will illuminate new 1812-themed license plates.
The state Motor Vehicle Administration will begin issuing the new license plates Monday as part of the agency's centennial celebration.
The plates depict Baltimore's Fort McHenry and bombs bursting in air during the 1814 battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the "Star Spangled Banner," the poem that was later set to music and became the national anthem.
The new design will remain the standard-issue plate until June 2015.
The MVA's predecessor, the Office of the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, was founded in 1910.
