California driver Isis Wharton fights with DMV to keep controversial ‘IAMISIS’ license plate

A California driver named Isis pushed back against the state’s request to change the controversial configuration she’s had on her personalized license plate for three years.

Last week, the California Department of Motor Vehicles requested that Isis Wharton, 26, change the phrase “IAMISIS” on her white Kia, fearing that it could be misunderstood as an acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Wharton said she received permission to use the license plate in 2022 and pushed back on the DMV’s request. She claimed authorities allowed her to renew her vanity plates every year with no issue.

“My name was a name thousands of years before the terrorist group,” Wharton told ABC 10 on Tuesday. “…It’s a harmful thing to come after someone’s name, and I think that things like this should be taken into more careful consideration.”

The configuration on her sedan has “IAMISIS” typed out in yellow letters over a black background with a barbed wire-looking license plate frame.

Wharton insisted that her desire to have the custom plates had nothing to do with the group, which was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US Department of State in 2004.

“I was named after the Egyptian goddess, and she’s like the goddess of healing and motherhood, and so it’s much more peaceful than they’re putting it out to be,” Wharton told the outlet.

ISIS’s predecessor group, al-Qa‘ida in Iraq (AQI), was formed in 2004 before it changed its name to ISIS in 2013, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Wharton, who lives in a suburb of Sacramento, was ordered to appeal the request by Sept. 25 or the DMV would issue her new plates.

“I was confused since I’ve had it for so long, and I was honestly super hurt,” Wharton told ABC Los Angeles. “I just did my registration a couple months ago, and they didn’t say anything then either.”

Wharton added, “I didn’t have any pushback from the DMV originally, so I thought everything would be good.”

“ISIS” is not listed among its restricted license plate configurations for drivers, according to the California DMV. The agency stated that it must “refuse any personalized license plate configuration that may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency, or which would be misleading.”

“They’ll tell you if it’s approved or not, and I know that they do have pretty strict guidelines, so I was super happy that I was able to put my name on there because I know that there is a little bit of controversy,” she told ABC 10.

According to the DMV, plates may be rejected for several reasons, including if a configuration poses a risk of inciting violence or contains a criminal gang affiliation.

“The DMV understands that language and symbols can hold different meanings across cultures and communities,” the state agency wrote in a statement to ABC 10. “What may be a term of endearment in one context can be perceived differently in another.”