ShareThisState Symbols--What Were They Thinking!
Our 50 American states have gone to great lengths to distinguish themselves. Most have declared official state flags, nicknames, songs, slogans, mascots, birds, fish, flowers, and trees. Residents often take great pride in their state symbols, finding them a rallying cry of regional splendor. To the casual observer, however, some state symbols are just a bit too bizarre. For example:
The District of Columbia Official Dinosaur
The meat-eating Capitalsaurus is one of only seven official dinosaurs that represent U.S. states and territories. As a state symbol, this "beat foot" saurischian dinosaur lived along the Potomac during the Cretaceous period and now resides in fossilized form in the Smithsonian Museum.
Kool-Aid, the Nebraska State Beverage
This powdered soft-drink base was invented in Hastings, Nebraska, during the 1920s. Known more for the corn that bootleggers turned to whiskey, Nebraska enacted legislation in 1998 to celebrate Kool-Aid as its state beverage.
Maryland's "Fatti Maschii, Parole Femine"
The only state creed in written Italian, Maryland's motto roughly translates as "manly deeds, womanly words." Although in recent years several state representatives considered the slogan sexist and offensive, the government has yet to alter its motto.
A State Symbol of Prayer
Many states have selected insects to take their places beside official flags, birds, and animals. The most-commonly selected insects among the states are varieties of butterfly. But Connecticut has named the Mantis religiosa -- an 1899 stowaway in a cargo of European plants -- as its official bug.
The Tie Goes to Arizona
Arizona is the only state to have an official tie. The bolo was named the state's neckwear of choice in 1971.
