One of the most interesting aspects of the early plates produced by Astrographic is that they bear witness to the production challenges the company was facing throughout late 1984 and into 1985.

Four distinct dies types can be seen on plates made during this period and they reveal how Astrographic was experimenting with its production processes in order to turn out the hundreds of thousands of plates required by the MVB.

The plate shown at right (“LAA-044”) is from early in the series and represents the initial manufacturing process employed by Astrographic in which a “male/female” die was used.  This process required the stamping of a die into a matching cut-out and resulted in very crisp and clean characters, but did not lend itself to large volume production.

In order to increase production, Astrographic began to experiment with different manufacturing processes. 

The plate shown at right (“PCG-969”) reflects an attempt by Astrographic to increase production by moving to a system in which a male die is used along with a neoprene (synthetic rubber) top plate. 

This process employed the same male dies as were used in the initial process outlined above (hence the similarities) but, as can be seen, the characters are not nearly as crisp and the paint is somewhat sloppy. This is very similar to the changes that occurred with the ACME made plates in 1978 versus 1980 (see 1979-1985)

In an interesting twist, the very first “Spirit Flag” plates seen by the public, being the design reveal on September 11, 1984 (“MVD-580”) and presentation to Rick Hansen on March 21, 1985 (“EXPO-86”) each displayed dies intended for use on non-passenger plates, such as Dealer or Commercial Truck.

When the first “Spirit Flag” plates were released to the public in July of 1985, a new “male/female” die type was being used (as shown above) but the non-passenger dies would re-appear on a small block of passenger plates starting with either an “N--” or “P--”.

These plates appear to have been made using the system in which a male die is used along with a neoprene (synthetic rubber) top plate but, as can be seen, the dies are narrower than the other dies used earlier in the series. The random distribution of this die type can be seen in the following gallery: 

Finally, there is what is considered to be the classic Astrographic die type in which a male die with neoprene top plate has been used, but the paint application is somewhat tighter and more aligned with the stamped letters and numbers.

This die would characterize Astrographic plates for the remainder of the company's contract with the province.

While Rick Hansen had been awarded the ceremonial first license plate in the new series (“EXPO-86” - see above), the actual first plate in the series (“LAA-001”) is reported to have been assigned to the Lieutenant Governor, who, by custom, was not actually required to have a license plate as the Queen's representative.

After this, it was reported that the next 98 license plates in the series (e.g. “LAA-002” through to “LAA-100”) were given out to various provincial dignitaries and other well connected motorists. The plates shown at right represent two such examples.

Following the release of the “Spirit Flag” design in July of 1985, it would take only 6 months for the first one million plates in the series to be released, validating the concerns of the Motor Vehicle Branch (MVB) Superintendent, Keith Jackman, that at least 500,000 to 700,000 needed to be in stock to meet the initial demand.

The serial of this first block of plates have the letters “L” through “X” as the first character followed by the letters “A” through “K” as the second and third characters:

Two months after the first “Spirit Flag” plates began to be issued, the Vancouver Province newspaper ran a poll of its readers asking if they liked the design of the plates.

Interestingly, 61% responded that, Yes, they did like the look of the new plates, but 29% responded that they did not.  

This is not entirely surprising given the association of the the “Spirit Flag” with the Socreds 1983 election campaign branding and the fact that the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) had won almost 45% of the vote in that election.

As hinted at in some of the first responses to the “Spirit Flag” design (see Letters to the Editor above), some motorists could not abide the idea of having to drive around promoting the Social Credit Party on the vehicle and took to defacing their license plates.

While we here at BCpl8s.ca do not know who the two plates shown above belonged to, we suspect that they were not fans of Social Credit or its Restraint program. On the plate at left, the “Spirit Flag” has been defaced with green spray paint, while the “Spirit Flag” on the plate at right has been covered up with a sticker for the International Woodworkers of America union.

On September 22, 1986, the Alex Fraser Bridge was formally opened. Spanning the Fraser River and connecting Delta and New Westminster, it was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world at the time.

The day before, an “Open House” had been held and was attended by 20,000 who were able to walk the bridge, take in a vintage car show, raise funds for Rick Hansen's “Man in Motion” tour and to meet Highway Minister Alex Fraser himself!

While it is known that the new Premier, Bill Vander Zalm was also on-hand to officially open the bridge (shown below), it has been suggested that former Premier, Bill Bennett, was also in attendance and one of the items produced to commemorate the opening were license plates with names or initials of the Social Credit dignitaries.

This included a plate that displayed “ALEX”, for Alex Fraser and one that displayed “WRB” for William Richards Bennett.

If true, we can't help but wonder if the “WRB” shown at right (and the reported “ALEX” plate) are extras made by Astrographic or possibly there was a change in plans and the plates were no longer needed for the ceremony (i.e. Bennett resigned as Premier before the bridge was opened), or the whole thing is a fabrication!

In providing Astrographic with a leg-up in manufacturing license plates, the province was hopeful that the company would be able better compete for “contracts from other areas once the first B.C. plates [had] been produced”, allowing it to grow and hire more employees.

This was a vision shared by Astrographic, who prepared numerous prototypes for consideration by jurisdictions across Canada and the United States.

Unfortunately, the company did not have much success in this regard as it was only ever able to secure the contract to make Yukon license plates for 1991 and a limited contract to make plates for Newfoundland in the late 1990s.

Fortunately, some of Astro's prototypes slipped out into the wild and the hands of collectors, allowing us to enjoy what could have been:

According to George Piva, the Astrographic's President from 1994 up until the 2020s, the company's prototype prepared and submitted to Nova Soctia when it was soliciting a new design for its license plates (shown above) was such a hit that that the province offered to buy the design from Astrographic.  Piva countered with a price of $25,000 CDN, or at no cost if the government awarded the contract to manufacture the plates to the company.

However, much like British Columbia, Nova Scotia was seen to be pursuing a policy supporting local manufacturing at this time and Waldale Manufacturing, a local company, was ultimately awarded the contract.  Piva still believes the Astrographic design to be superior to the design Nova Scotia eventually opted to use on its plates.

The second block of a million plates on the “Spirit Flag” base would be issued over the course of the next two-and-a-half years (i.e. January 1986 to approximately September of 1988).  

The serial for this block of plates have the letters “L” through “X” as the first and second characters followed by the letters “A” through “K” as the third character:

The third block of a million plates would be issued over the course of the next two years (i.e. September of 1988 to September of 1990).

The serial for this block of plates have the letters “L” through “X” as the first, second and third characters:

As alluded to above, Astrographic had been cautioned by the Superintendent of the Motor Vehicle Branch, Keith Jackman, not to sign a contract with the province to manufacture the new “Spirit Flag” design before ensuring it would be able to cover its cost.

Astrographic staff, however, felt they could produce the plates at the price they had calculated and signed the contract in the Premier's office in March of 1984.

This fateful decision inflicted financial harm on Astrographic that it would not be able to recover from. When the cost of producing the plates exceeded the value of the contract, Astrographic attempted to renegotiate with the province, but the government was not prepared to budge.

This lead, somewhat ironically, to Astrographic declaring bankruptcy and going into receivership only four years after winning a contract that had been intended to promote and benefit a local B.C. business.

Astrographic was subsequently acquired by Continental Traffic and Industrial Signs of Abbotsford in 1988, which was run by Phil Jackman (who, we believe, was the son of Keith Jackman). Continental also acquired Canadian Traffic Control, another Surrey company at this same time.

Phil Jackman's plan was the same as the previous management team at Astrographic; to compete for license plate contracts in the U.S. market. Holding the company back, however, was a 3.8% tariff that the U.S. applied to license plates made in Canada.

According to Jackman, “we could do $200,000 to $300,000 more in sales a year if we didn't have it” - leading the company to tentatively support the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that was the main issue in the 1988 Federal Election.

In March of 1989, Continental Traffic and Industrial Signs sold Astrographic and Canadian Traffic Control to ... ACME Signalisation of Montreal!  Yes, ACME!  According to news reports, the sale price was $2,500,000 and that ACME, through Astrographic, promptly secured a 5-year contract worth $10,800,000 with BC to produce license plates (to 1994).

As detailed on the previous page (1979-1985), ACME declared bankruptcy in 1994, presenting an opportunity for 4 managers at Astrographic to buy the company and revive its fortunes, which they did and would continue manufacturing license plates for British Columbia over the course of the coming decade.

Entering the 1990s, with the design, production and management of “Spirit Flag” base now established, issuance of license plates would become a routine and predictable event, generating little in the way of interest.

Generally, when license plates appeared in the public consciousness or news, it was now in a supporting role, such as:

• the introduction of photo radar (1990 & 1995) and attempts by motorists to avoid being issued a speeding ticket (i.e. installing reflecting or distorting covers. Anyone remember the “Photobuster” cover?);
  
  
• an idea by the MVB to scrap front license plates as a cost saving measure (1991);
  
  
• the introduction of AirCare (1992/93) and the use of license plates to manage demand at local testing centres;
  
  
• the success of a fraud-fighting tip line (1994) in busting people plate-switching between vehicles or driving longer than 3-months with Alberta plates;
  
  
• floating the idea of pink plates being issued to bad drivers (1994) and one of the worst editorial headlines of the decade (“Sink the pink idea”);
  
  
• a shocking breach of privacy (1995) by Delta Constable Steve Parker, an anti-abortion advocate who used his access to police computers to check the addresses of “pro-choice” activists by running their license plates;
  
  
• wide-spread theft of decals (1995 & 1996);
  
  
• dudes choosing to not display a front license plate on their car for aesthetic reasons (1995);
  
  
• license plates being obscured by bike racks (1996); and
  
  
• debunking an urban myth (1999) that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) prohibited the province from replacing old, worn-out license plates (it did not).

As a result, what follows is generally a chronicling of license plate issuance between 1990 and 2001, with a few oddball bits of information thrown in. Enjoy!

The fourth block of a million plates would be issued over the course of the next two years (i.e. September 1990 to approximately November of 1992).  

The serial for this block of plates have the letters “L” through “X” as the first and third characters with the letters “A” through “K” as the second character:

The fifth block of a million plates would be issued over the course of the next two years (i.e. November 1992 to approximately December of 1994).  

The serial for this block of plates has all the letters being “A” through “K”:

In order to drum-up more business, posisbly by encouraging a “re-plate” (being when an old design is retired by a province and replaced with a new design, thereby requiring that all cars get new plates within the span of 12 months), license plate manufacturers will occassionally send, un-solicited, a new design to a client for their consideration.

This is what happened in the mid-1990s as Astrographic's license plate printing technology continued to improve as did the creativity of its design team. As an alternative to the “Spirit Flag” design, Astrographic's came up with a series of 3 designs that showcased the landscape from various parts of the province; coastal mountain range (below-left), Interior grasslands (below-centre) and northern forest (below-right):

Not surprisingly, as the designs were never adopted by the province, Astrographic's submission was never acted upon. We suspect that a major consideration is the cost of undertaking a re-plate.

The Motor Vehicle Branch (MVB) was also in the process of being rolled into ICBC in this period and the Corporation's funding model has, alas, resulted in it having a clean financial dis-incentive to do anything that might cost it money on modernizing the province's license plates. So, the “Spirit Flag” persisted ...

The sixth block of a million plates would be issued over the course of the next two years (i.e. December 1994 to approximately May of 1997).  

The serial for this block of plates have the letters “A” through “K” as the first and second characters with the letters “L” through “X” as the third character:

The seventh block of a million plates would be issued over the course of the next two years (i.e. May 1997 to approximately April of 1999).  

The serial for this block of plates have the letters “A” through “K” as the first character with the letters “L” through “X” as the second and third characters:

A clause in Astrographic’s contract with the province allowed the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (who now administered the plate contract after amalgamating with the MVB in 1996) to require delivery of plates within 30 days. 

In 1998, this clause was exercised on the basis that Astrographic could not provide the required stock within a timely fashion and a short run of plates with Waldale Manufacturing Limited (of Amherst, Nova Scotia) dies in the “KRL” to “ARC” range began appearing on plates that expired in the second half of 1999: 

With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that the Corporation was preparing to change manufacturers at the expiration of their contract in 2002 with Astrographics and was essentially conducting a dry-run with Waldale to see what they could produce.

As can be seen in the following gallery, Waldales stamping process resulted in dies and a paint job that were much crisper than what appeared on Astrographic's plates and harken back to the first series of ACME (1978) and early Astro (1985) plates:

The eigth block of a million plates would be issued over the course of the next two years (i.e. April 1999 to approximately June of 2001).  

The serial for this block of plates have the letters “A” through “K” as the first and third characters with the letters “L” through “X” as the second character:

All license plate manufacturers, Astrographic included, routinely run quality control tests on their materials and manufacturing processes.

At right is such a test plate from early in the “Spirit Flag” series (May 2, 1986 to be precise) where, it is believed, Astrographic was testing some sheeting supplied by the 3M Company.

A little known fact, 3M only guarantees its sheeting for a period of approximately 7 years. Another little known fact, the “Spirit Flag” base was only anticipated to be used for approximately 7 years (to 1992), after which, it was assumed, a new license plate series/design would be introduced by the government of the day.

Which makes the fact that approximately 10,000 plates in the AAA-000 format still on the road as of July 13, 2019, fairly impressive and a testament to the manufacturing process employed by Astrographic (and the chemicals it relied on to make the plates)!

Grant, 10,000 might sound like a lot of plates, it is actually infinitesimal in comparison to the 8,000,000 plates in the AAA-000 format made by Astrographic between 1985 and 2001. The precentage that this represents is only 0.12% and those that are still on the road are looking their age:

When compared with the 000-AAA and AA0-00A formats, the 10,000 plates in the AAA-000 format only represents approximately 0.43% of the 2.3 million registered passenger vehicles in 2019.

While we think there is a very strong argument for ICBC to formally cancel the remaining plates in the AAA-000 and get them off the road due to clear legibility concerns, we also recognize that many people get attached to their plates and come to view old-timers from the AAA-000 series as status symbols and proof of long-term residency in the province.

Take the owner of “NBE-800” (issued in 1985 or '86), which likely disintegrated after decades of use, but who seeminly didn't want to surrender the number for sentimentality / status reasons in the mid-Aughts.  Their solution, the creation of their own replacement plate with the same number.

We are unsure what materials were used, but in Vancouver's wet climate we don't expect this plate to last anywhere near another 30 years and assume that the police have already cracked down on its use (how could they not given the design looks nothing like the "Flag"). At some point, ICBC is going to have to formally recall whatever plates from the AAA-000 series remain on the road and replace them with current series plates.

It is assumed that the modification of the "TFX" prefix into "TEX" occurred while this plate was still registered to a vehicle and must have belonged to someone from Texas or who had the nickname of Tex(?).

What is impressive to us here at BCpl8s.ca is that they took the time and effort to try and emboss the "F" into an "E" but then cut-a-corner by using a black sharpie instead of a blue one to colour in their handiwork. Go figure ...

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