After D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown’s temporary tags on his brand-new Prius were washed away by rain last week, he remedied the situation by getting himself some D.C. license plates.

But not just any license plates — special plates set aside for special people.

Brown’s new plate lists his position on the council against an elegant backdrop of the Washington Monument and cherry blossoms. The license plate is even more distinct than the low-number plates assigned by Mayor Vincent Gray and Brown; those merely feature an image of a red rose.

The plates on Brown’s Prius are available to councilmembers; to my knowledge, at least two others currently have them. But if you’re a regular driver, forget it — the best you can do is one of two specialty tags or a small number of organizational tags.

I’m still confused as to why the District doesn’t offer more specialty tags — like the one Brown and his colleagues get — and charge a little extra for them. We don’t have to go all Virginia or anything (the Old Dominion has over 180 different specialty tags), but a little variety may well bring in some much-needed cash.

Update, 4:25 p.m.: A tipster just reminded us that the D.C. Council will be considering legislation soon that would offer team license plates. If the legislation passes, $25 would land you a Redskins, Nationals, Wizards, United, Capitals, Mystics, Kastles, Freedom, Bayhawks or D.C. Divas license plate.