Gov. Jim Martin has ordered that Confederate flag bumper plates no longer be sold through privately run businesses that also sell North Carolina license plates and validation stickers. The rebel flag plates had been sold at many of the 125 offices. Martin decided to limit sales of the plates after being questioned about them last week by a group of black business leaders in Winston-Salem, Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner William Hiatt said Wednesday. Asked whether the plates being sold at the license plate agencies were in good taste, Martin said, ``Probably not.'' The motor vehicles commissioner can cancel a contract with a private license-plate agency with 60 days' notice and without reason, Hiatt said. State license plates go on the backs of vehicles, and motorists often attach other plates on the front bumper.
