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DC unveils new Purple Heart license plate for combat-wounded veterans

By Alan Etter

Combat-wounded veterans in D.C. now have a new way to display their service and sacrifice.

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The D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles has released a new Purple Heart specialty license plate.

It is available to District residents who have received the Purple Heart medal, as well as eligible surviving spouses.

New DC Purple Heart specialty license plate
D.C. officials unveil the design of the new Purple Heart specialty license plate. (Courtesy D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles)

The new tag carries no annual fee. Applicants are required to pay a one-time $10 application fee, with the proceeds supporting the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs Fund, which provides services for D.C. veterans.

The specialty plate was created under the D.C. Purple Heart License Plate Amendment Act of 2025, legislation that became law on May 21. District officials said the tag was designed to honor Purple Heart recipients wounded or killed in combat while recognizing their service to the nation.

At an unveiling ceremony, D.C. DMV Director Gabriel Robinson said his agency made the license plate a priority when the legislation became law in May of this year.

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National Museum of the American Latino to be housed in historic Smithsonian building

By Neal Augenstein
The Smithsonian Institution has decided to put the National Museum of the American Latino into an existing, historic building, rather than constructing a new one. The Smithsonian Board of Regents on Monday designated the Arts and Industries Building, a 145-year-old redbrick Victorian structure located between the Smithsonian Castle and the Hirshhorn Museum, as the permanent site of the National Museum of the American Latino, which Congress authorized in 2020. In 2022, the Smithsonian narrowed its survey for permanent locations for the National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women's History Museum to four locations near the National Mall on land owned by the National Park Service. The Arts and Industries Building, located at 900 Jefferson St. SW, was one of the four sites. New construction on National Park Service land would require congressional approval. However, since the Smithsonian already owns the Arts and Industries Building, the institution can place the National Museum of the American Latino in the existing building without additional legislation.
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