One Suffolk man said he’s not giving up his Sons of Confederate Veterans license plates after Virginia DMV issued a redesigned plate in response to court decisions.

“My ancestors fought and died for that flag,” said Kevin Collier, a member of the Stonewall Camp. “I haven’t turned in my plates. I don’t plan on turning in my plates. I’ll go to jail before I turn them in.”

The former specialty plates for the group’s members featured the Sons of Confederate Veterans logo, part of which is the Confederate battle flag. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in June decided in a Texas case that the state could prohibit the flag from being displayed on license plates supporting the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Following that ruling, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring filed court papers in June to dissolve an injunction that had been preventing the state from enforcing its law against the logo on SCV plates. The group fought the ruling but lost its court case.

In September, the DMV mailed new plates to about 1,600 motorists who had the special plates. The plate still features the group’s name and a blue silhouette of Confederate leaders astride horses.

The letter accompanying the new plates told vehicle owners they had 30 days to display the new plates and return the old ones in a provided pre-paid envelope.

But Collier says he won’t do any such thing.

He’s not alone. According to DMV spokeswoman Katy Lloyd, only 163 pairs of plates had been returned as of Oct. 7. Seven had mailed back their new plates with “no thank you” written on the envelopes. Five had mailed back empty envelopes.

Some drivers have been returning their plates at DMV customer service centers or selecting a different design altogether, but Lloyd said she did not have numbers on those two groups.

“While DMV hopes plates will be returned for recycling, the agency’s primary concern is making sure inactive plates are not on the road,” Lloyd said. It is a class 2 misdemeanor to operate a vehicle with inactive plates.

“It’s the principle,” Collier said. “If I falter on this, something else will come along and test my principles, so I’ll be faltering on that, and pretty soon I’ll be like 50 million other sheep.”

Collier’s great-great-great-grandfather, Charles Collier, fought in the 5th Georgia Infantry. Charles Collier’s four brothers also served, Kevin Collier said.

“I feel like my great-great-great-granddad, if he was here he wouldn’t turn them in,” Collier said.

He said he considers it a privilege to have a chance to stand up for the flag.

“I was born 150 years too late,” he said. “I can’t fight for the flag, but I can stand for the principle. At least I can do that in modern times.”

Collier said he will protect his plates as much as he’s able.

“I heard that they can seize my plates off my vehicle, but it’s going to be awful ugly if they do,” he said. “I’m willing to go down fighting.”