Wyoming To Make Rodeo-Themed License Plate In Response To PETA Rodeo Protest

Wyoming rodeo fans will be able to get a special state license plate that shows their love for the Western sport that many say embody the spirit of the Cowboy State.

Gov. Mark Gordon signed Senate File 121 into law Friday, a bill that establishes rodeo-themed Wyoming state license plates.

The plates will be available next year, and will be created in response to an anti-rodeo campaign last year to eliminate the bucking horse logo from the state’s license plates.

“Let’s go, let’s show, let’s rodeo,” Gordon said, receiving applause. 

State Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas, who sponsored SF 121, told Cowboy State Daily the bill was directly inspired by a request from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which says Wyoming’s logo glorifies rodeo, which it claims mistreats animals.

Last June, PETA sent a letter to the Wyoming Senate president and House speaker requesting that residents have the choice to opt out from having to buy a license plate with the bucking horse logo on their vehicles. State law requires the logo on all of the state’s 19 license plate designs.

PETA’s alternative was to put the skull of a triceratops, the state dinosaur, on plates.

“It’s important that we stand up for our Western way of life,” Boner said. “It’s easy to take a ridiculous letter from PETA and just ignore it, but I think it’s worth a response.”

Boner joked that now he may send PETA a copy of the new license plate.

Just what the new Wyoming rodeo license plates could look like hasn’t been decided.

How It Works

People who buy the rodeo-themed license plates will be given the option to donate $20 or more to support rodeo programs at the University of Wyoming and Wyoming community colleges. Boner said the license plates themselves will cost the same as other Wyoming license plates

Rodeo is the official sport of Wyoming and deeply embedded into the Western culture of the state. Although Boner is nothing more than a rodeo fan, he did compete in a wild horse race while serving in the military.

“It’s good to have these fun little bills that maybe make more of a statement than anything, but I think it’s an important statement to make to stand up for our Western heritage,” Boner said.

Three members of the University of Wyoming rodeo team were on hand for Friday’s bill signing.

“We are all just so appreciative and blessed to have the support from our communities in the state like we have,” said team member Raegen Delancey. “At the end of the day, I think it’s important to remember that and the world needs more Cowboys.”

Creating the new license plates will cost the state $2,000.

Boner said the Wyoming Department of Transportation will start designing the plates now the bill has passed into law.

Big Ask

In a press release issued with its letter last summer, PETA said it believes the bucking horse should “go the way of the dinosaurs.”

The Secretary of State’s office says that Wyoming's first use of the bucking horse logo dates back to 1918 and possibly earlier. It was also used as an insignia worn by members of the Wyoming National Guard in France and Germany during World War I.

Some believe that the bucking horse is representative of a legendary rodeo horse named Steamboat that dates back to the early 1900s. One of the best-known bucking horses of all time, Steamboat was publicized as "the horse that couldn't be ridden."

The bucking horse and rider now on the state seal and is also the official logo for the University of Wyoming.

Contact Leo Wolfson at leo@cowboystatedaily.com

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.