List of Arkansas state symbols
The following is a list of the symbols of the U.S. state of Arkansas.
State symbols
The following state symbols are officially recognized by state law.
- State anthem: "Arkansas" by Eva Ware Barnett, adopted: 1987[1]
- State historical song: "The Arkansas Traveler" by Sandford C. Faulkner, adopted: 1987[1]
- State motto: Regnat Populus ("The People Rule"), adopted: 1907[2]
- State songs: "Arkansas (You Run Deep In Me)" by Wayland Holyfield and "Oh, Arkansas" by Terry Rose and Gary Klass, adopted: 1987[1]
Type | Symbol | Year | Image |
---|---|---|---|
American folk dance | Square dance |
1991[3] | |
Beverage | Milk |
1985[4] | |
Bird | Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos |
1929[5] | |
Butterfly | Diana fritillary butterfly Speyeria diana |
2007[6] | |
Floral emblem | Apple blossom Pyrus malus |
1901[7] | |
Fruit and vegetable | South Arkansas vine ripe pink tomato Solanum lycopersicum |
1987[8] | |
Gem | Diamond |
1967[9] | |
Grain | Rice Oryza sp. |
2007[10] | |
Grape | Cynthiana grape Vitis aestivalis |
2009[11] | |
Historic cooking vessel | Dutch oven |
2001[12] | |
Insect | Honey bee Apis mellifera |
1973[13] | |
Mammal | White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus |
1993[14] | |
Mineral | Quartz |
1967[15] | |
Musical instrument | Fiddle |
1985[16] | |
Nut | Pecan Carya illinoinensis |
2009[17] | |
Primitive fish | Alligator gar Atractosteus spatula |
2019[18] | |
Rock | Bauxite |
1967[19] | |
Soil | Stuttgart soil series |
1997[20] | |
Tree | Pine tree (either Pinus taeda or Pinus echinata) |
1939[21] | |
Other
- State quarter for Arkansas
Extra info
The designation of a variety of tomato as both the state fruit and the state vegetable is correct. Standing on both sides of the long-running controversy, the law recognizes that the tomato is botanically a fruit, but is a vegetable in culinary use; thus it is officially both in Arkansas.
Though two other songs are designated as "state songs" (plus a "state historical song" which was the state song from 1949 to 1963), by state law the Secretary of State must respond to any requests for "the state song" with the music of the state anthem, "Arkansas"; it was the state song before 1949 and from 1963 to 1987, when it became state anthem and the other songs gained their present status. This is strictly to preserve the status of "Arkansas"; all four songs are either copyrighted by the state itself or in the public domain.
References
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state songs", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state motto", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state dance", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state beverage", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Spurgeon, John (March 8, 2018), "Official state bird", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Spencer, Lori A. (March 8, 2018), "Official state butterfly", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state flower", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state fruit and vegetable", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state gem", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Teske, Steven (March 8, 2018), "Official state grain", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state grape", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ragsdale, John G. (March 8, 2018), "Official state cooking vessel", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state insect", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state mammal", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state mineral", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state musical instrument", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state nut", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- "Gov. Hutchinson signs bill making alligator gar state's official primitive fish", thv11.com, March 25, 2019, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state rock", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state soil", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27
- Ware, David (March 8, 2018), "Official state tree", Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Central Arkansas Library System, retrieved 2019-05-27