Ask Elsa

Crescent

Q: I'm going to use the word "tripe." That's a good Southern term. I just read Friday's front page about the new tag for the state of South Carolina. Celestial body. What in the world are y'all talking about down there? That poor paper. Front page. Unvelievable. That crescent has never had anything to do with celestial bodies. You know that. I know that. It was the symbol on the hats of Col. Moutrie's soldiers. I absolutely want a retraction of this. I want to see something in the paper about this. I want to see your comments about this thing. That is ludicrous. I know "ludicrous" isn't a Southern term. That is tripe. I'm perturbed about it. I want to see you say something about it in the paper with a nice big apology to South Carolinians for putting that thing in it. I really want to see this if I gotta call everybody down there at your newspaper. Jerry.

A: Oh, my. Friday's story was about a local woman's research into the new state license tag referred to as the "sunrise" plate. She thought that, if the license depicted a sunrise, the crescent moon hanging over a palmetto tree was backward. An astronomy expert agreed with her.

The reporter, Brian Hicks, knew that the crescent pictured on the state flag is believed to represent a gorget (part of a military uniform), not a moon. Indeed, his report noted "arguments that the doodad isn't a moon, it's a gorget — don't ask, we don't want to reopen that can of worms." A year ago, he reported on the crescent's meaning as it appears on the flag and the controversy surrounding it. Still, a spokesman for the Department of Motor Vehicles said the crescent on the license tag was a moon.

It would have been helpful if the story had explained the symbol as it appears on the flag instead of just making a breezy reference to it.

Elsa McDowell, public editor, welcomes questions or comments about the paper's news coverage. Call 937-5626 or e-mail her at askelsa@postandcourier.com.