Which state has the best licence plate in America? California’s iconic yellow-over-black plates and Michigan’s Water-Winter Wonderland plates are up there, but for a while, Texas’ Mighty Fine Burgers plate that comes with a burger shop gift card worth more than the plate fee took the crown. That’s difficult to beat, but West Virginia’s done it with a new cryptid-themed licence plate.
What’s a cryptid? If you’re asking this, you probably need to visit Appalachia more, but Merriam-Webster has the definition covered. According to the dictionary, it’s “an animal (such as Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster) that has been claimed to exist but never proven to exist,” and West Virginia is allegedly full of them. Cryptids from Mothman to Sheepsquatch are part of folklore, and the state’s picked right around Halloween to honor them on their roads. Even the suits seem stoked, with Transportation Secretary Stephen T. Rumbaugh stating, “As a huge fan of West Virginia’s rich folklore, I couldn’t be more excited to see legendary cryptids like Mothman and Braxie the Flatwoods Monster featured on our new license plate.”
Indeed, this new plate features no fewer than nine cryptids: The Flatwoods Monster a.k.a. Braxie, a humanoid figure allegedly first seen in 1952; Point Pleasant, W.V. native Mothman; Bigfoot; Sheepsquatch which is allegedly a bear-sized thing with ram horns; Bat Boy made famous by Weekly World News; Veggie Man, which was described exactly as you’d expect; a werewolf, the Grafton Monster that you may have also seen in Fallout ’76; and Ogua, the only cryptid listed to allegedly inhabit fresh waters. Braxie and Mothman are the stars of the show here, but if you go looking, you’ll find what you seek.
There’s something poetic about the juxtaposition of the state’s “Almost Heaven” motto against an eldritch white winter scene of supernatural beings, but would you have it any other way? For the sort of people who’ll pay $61.50 to keep a cryptid plate for a year or $113 for two, seeing any one of these alleged creatures ought to be a dream come true.
Beyond folklore, this particular plate design is especially touching because in a way, it’s a memorial. The design for the cryptid plate was penned by artist Jesse Corlis, who tragically died in 2023 due to complications of temporal lobe epilepsy. Corlis designed several West Virginia licence plates including the “protect pollinators” design, and his mural work can be found throughout West Virginia and beyond. Road trip time, perhaps?
So, what sort of car would you put a cryptids plate on? A 1959 Plymouth Fury would be the obvious choice, but I reckon it could look great on a street-legal drift car, one of those rad Quigley vans, or even a Volkswagen New Beetle. Regardless, well done, West Virginia. You now have the coolest licence plate in the Union. Now, who’s going to match this energy?
Top graphic image: West Virginia DMV
This is great! I love folklore, myths, and cryptids. There are a bunch of channels that run cryptid encounter stories that I love to put on in the background when working in something. I used to listen to them to sleep, but they were sometimes too engaging. (My favorite for sleep is old baseball radio broadcasts. No idea why it works so well for me.)
The rarest cryptic in West Virginia may be someone not addicted to fetanyl, meth, or tranq.
I always thought it was neat how both Colorado and Wyoming issue license plates in the shape of the state.
Those of us who grew up with Square One TV read that as “Mathman.” 😉
A Skoda Yeti is the obvious choice.
An AMC Gremlin would also do.
Meth Man?
Esp as the scripted state moto at a glance looks like “almost human.”
Would look good on a vintage Impala, or even a late model, as along as it was black.