LANHAM, Md. (CBSDC)- D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray ordered Friday that the topmost label on the city’s license plates be changed from “Washington D.C.” to the “District of Columbia,” The Washington Post reports.

Mayor’s office spokesman Pedro Ribeiro told The Post that the first District of Columbia labels will begin appearing on plates that are reserved for friends and allies of the mayor and city council members. They will be incorporated into general circulation in the next few years, when the DMV completes a redesign, the report says.

Ribeiro said the District’s plates used to say “District of Columbia,” but were changed in the 1960s. He said returning to the name would be returning to historical precedent. The change will also make license plates more accurate, since the 1973 Home Rule Act refers to the city as the District of Columbia.

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