Liz Ferris's car carried the message for nine years. But she was told after she let her plate lapse and tried to get it back that it violated a new policy against religious themes on vanity plates, the Indianapolis Star reported.

"I'm not about forcing my beliefs on other people," said Ferris, 36, of Cambridge City in eastern Indiana. "The laws that protect my freedom to express myself are the same as those that protect others who have opinions with which I disagree."

Dennis Rosebrough, the bureau's spokesman, defended the rule, which was adopted in December 2007. The bureau now bars plates that refer to religion, politics, gender and sexual identity.

"If you permit one," he said, "you have to permit all. We believe the better judgment is to not have any references to deity."

But the bureau has approved 2 million plates that say "In God We Trust." On Monday, an appeals court upheld those plates as constitutionally protected.