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California Freemason: A Sense of Belonging

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Want a Masonic Plate? You'll Have to Wait

ONE MEMBER IS ON A MISSION TO INTRODUCE A MASONIC LICENSE PLATE. THE ONLY HOLDUP: CALIFORNIA’S DMV.

By Justin Japitana

Masonic License Plates

For a group that’s been frequently if not quite fairly disparaged as being a secret society, Masons tend not to be overly shy about flaunting their membership. Look no further than the bustling trade in Masonic T-shirts, polos, neckties, ball caps, lapel pins, signet rings, and the like for evidence of that impulse.

But for Shivam Sharma, there remains yet another frontier for the square and compass: his license plate.

Chalk it up to oversight, but California does not presently offer motorists the opportunity to adorn even the most personalized vanity plates with the fraternal logo. License plate holders, bumper stickers, and window decals, sure. But the California DMV–issued plate is currently verboten.

That’s not the case elsewhere, including in Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania (and several others), all of which offer Masonic plates. Sharma, the master of Solomon’s Staircase № 357 in Orange County, is on a mission to add the Golden State to that list.

California special-issue license plates feature alternative designs, and a portion of the fees charged for them are donated to eligible nonprofit organizations. (California’s “whale tail” plates, for instance, support the state coastal commission; the vintage black-and-yellow plates benefit environmental projects.) Other special plates include ones for Snoopy (benefitting state museums), dogs and cats (spay and neuter programs), Lake Tahoe, fire-fighters, veterans’ organizations, and many more. For Sharma, Masonry should have a place alongside them. “We’re a well-established, decades-old non-profit institution, so it’s safe to say we have a strong case,” he says.

Sharma has already brought the matter up at recent master and wardens retreats and with grand lodge officers, and has been “engaging in multiple talks” with the relevant state officials. “I’m hoping everyone joins hands on this project,” Sharma says. “I see it now as a matter of working with Grand Lodge to provide paperwork and nonprofit-related documentation to the DMV. Soon enough, you’ll see a square and compass on my Toyota Highlander’s plate.”

Sharma says he’s hoping to launch the project by next year. But patience may be required. He’s dealing with the California DMV, after all.

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