One of the three finalists for the Georgia competition for a new general issue license plate.
Contributed PhotoThree fuzzy-fruit designs - a stained-glass-style peach, a peach orchard and the outline of the state with two peaches - are the finalists to be Georgia's new license plate.
The state Department of Revenue announced the three finalists Thursday, and Gov. Nathan Deal will announce the winner today.
Online voting ended last week for the eight peachy semifinalist designs, chosen from more than 500 entries submitted by Georgia artists.
In all, more than 412,000 people voted for their favorite tag.
Officials with the revenue department said the goal of the contest is to find a "fresh, new design" for Georgia's next standard-issue license plate, which is scheduled to adorn bumpers around the state beginning next year.
Tim Mitchell of the Department of Revenue's Office of Tax Policy said the change is needed because plates are guaranteed to remain reflective only for five years, but some of the plates on the roads have been on cars for 14 years.
"You can imagine we're getting kind of weak when trying to see what the plates say at night," he said.
The new plates also allow the state to prepare for flat plates with digital codes rather than the old-fashioned plates with raised numbers.
The new plates will start going out in 2012 "at the latest," according to Mitchell.
State officials have not divulged the identities of the artists.