Oops! Ohio makes mistake on new license plate design featuring the Wright Flyer

Ohio unveiled its new license plate Thursday, depicting the Wright Flyer as a symbol of the state's place in aviation history.

The only problem: The banner is attached to the wrong end of the plane. 

On the new license plate, called "Sunrise in Ohio," a banner that reads "Birthplace of Aviation" flies in the sky as if attached to the plane's smaller "elevators." But that's actually the front of the Wright brothers' history-making plane. 

In flight, the pilot faces the smaller elevators, meaning the back of the plane is near the propellers. To be accurate, the banner should be on the opposite side of the plane. 

Later Thursday, the Ohio Department of Public Safety issued a statement saying it had fixed the design by flipping the plane. The corrected design will be used on Ohio's plates released Dec. 29.

"We are aware that the plane on the new Ohio license plate unveiled this morning was oriented in the wrong direction. We regret this mistake and have fixed the image," the Ohio Department of Public Safety said. 

Ohio will recycle the 35,000 plates that had already been printed. Inmates at Lebanon Correctional Institution started making the plates earlier this month. 

Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.