The mark of the law — a black butterfly, printed beside the words Hidden Disability
Eric & Linda Carpenter-Grantham — the son and mother who wrote the law, Silver Spring, Maryland
The story went national — Eric and Linda on The View
Film · Coming soon
Watch the story — film coming soon, as covered by WMAR-2 News
Born in Maryland · Bound for all fifty states
The symbol that speaks.
A butterfly on the driver's license that tells a first responder: I have a hidden disability. I may not respond the way you expect. Written into Maryland law by a son and his mother.
Born in colorMade black by lawBlue, for his father
First, color
He cried for his friends, not for himself.
After George Floyd was murdered, Linda sat her son down for the talk. Eric listened. Then he began to cry — not for himself, but for his friends on the spectrum, afraid of what a traffic stop could become for them. "We gotta do something now," he said.
He wanted a symbol an officer could see before anything went wrong. He prayed on it. They considered a star. He chose the butterfly — born in the colors of the invisible-disability awareness ribbon.
Then, black
Maryland asked for it in black.
To print on a driver's license, the state needed the butterfly in a single color. So it turned black — and black became the mark of the law. On May 13, 2025, Governor Wes Moore signed House Bill 707. On October 1, 2025, the first butterfly IDs came off the printers.
Now, blue
The blue is for Eric's father.
Everywhere else, the butterfly flies royal blue — Eric's tribute to his late father, and the autism-ribbon blue of calmness and acceptance. It is the blue this whole page rests on.
Maryland sample license — the butterfly beside the words HIDDEN DISABILITY.
The proof · Maryland MVA
It's on real licenses now.
This is not a pin, a bracelet, or a card in a wallet that has to be found. It is printed on the license itself — visible in the first seconds of a traffic stop, when a hidden disability is most easily mistaken for something else.
May 13 2025Governor Wes Moore signs House Bill 707 — Eric's ID Law
Oct 1 2025First butterfly licenses and state IDs issued at the MVA
Jan 2026Delaware files HB 280 — now in committee; a Washington, DC bill is moving
The migration
1 state down. 49 to go.
Maryland is the only state in America that prints the butterfly. Bills are moving in Delaware and Washington, DC. The other forty-eight are why this page exists.
Maryland — lawDelaware — HB 280 in committee · Washington, DC — bill in motion46 states — waiting
On the record
The View·AFRO·WMAR-2·WJLA ABC7·Maryland Matters·Bethesda Magazine·Capital News Service·Maryland MVA
