Alabama license plate 

 Pictured is an Alabama license plate from 1997. The lettering is embossed which was a common way of making plates for this period. They switched from embossed to printed plates. “Sweet Home Alabama” is not present on this plate like the current ones. 

 As per the state Branch of Documents and History, the chamber tried to put Alabama as the monetary focus of the South by broadcasting: "Alabama is geologically the Heart of Dixie." This is seen on all of the license plates for Alabama. The design for this plate has the “of” in the heart. Sometimes the Alabama plates have the heart in different places. On this day in 1954, Alabama lawmakers passed a law that required vehicle license plates to have a heart and the words "Heart of Dixie." The phrase had been used by the Alabama State Chamber of Commerce for several years as a slogan to promote the state. As time went on, the designs of the state's license plates changed and the state added specialty and custom plates to the mix. However, to this day, every state-issued plate in Alabama has either the heart or the phrase "heart of Dixie." Most plates sport both.