I said it on Facebook, and I'll say it again here: The state flag is ugly, looks like someone threw random paint at a cloth, and was probably designed by the same person who drew the state's borders.
That said, I prefer the 1812 plates. I'd been holding off on re-ordering my vanity plate after getting a new-to-me car so I could use the money for bills. Now that I know they'll be issuing this atrocity, I'm going to take action so I get my vanity on the 1812 plates, which I prefer. I'd previously had it on the Chesapeake Bay plates, because the 1812 plates hadn't come out yet when I moved to MD and I don't like the crest plates (again: state flag). Although I do support cleaning up the Bay, I'd rather not have a mandatory $10 annual contribution, so I'd like to get the 1812 plates.
A friend of mine in the license plate collectors' community has obtained a sample plate in the new design announced yesterday (with the same "MD PROUD" lettering), and it is flat. I don't like flat plates, because they can very easily become covered with mud, snow, et cetera, and therefore become illegible, defeating the primary purpose of a license plate which is to uniquely identify a specific vehicle. Specifically, I've seen this happen with both Iowa and Montana plates, which are now flat. At least if the plate number is embossed (or debossed, as in the case of Vermont), the number can still be read if the plate is dirty, covered with mud or snow. I really hope MVA hasn't decided to produce these as flat plates. It may be cheaper for the state, but there are definitely legibility concerns.