Maine State Symbols, Emblems, and Mascots
Maine Symbols, Maine Emblems, and Maine Mascots
Browse the state's symbols; state animal, state bird, state flower, state flag, state fossil, state insect, state motto, state seal, state tree, color, dance, fish, mammal, music, nut, reptile seal, and miscellaneous designations, emblems, and mascot of each state with pictures. Find origin of the state name. View the state almanacs, state timelines and peruse state facts and stats such as the capitol, location, and date admitted to the union.
Northeast
Pine Tree State
Maine Symbols, Emblems, and Mascots |
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| Animal | Moose (Alces alces) 1979 |
| Berry | Wild Blueberry (vaccinium angustifolium, aiton) 1991 Harvested from late July to early September in Maine. Harvesting is still mainly by hand rake- a close-tined special RAKE invented about 112 years ago by a local Downeaster, Abijah Tabbutt and modified in minor variations since then. The secretis in the wielding of the rake - a special pushing and twisting motion of the wrists designed to tease the ripe berries from their grasp of the vine without crushing. Hand-raking is increasingly being replaced by mechanized harvesting. Although the technology is getting very good, hand-raking will always have its place - due in large part to the hilly and rocky terrain that a lot of wild blueberry patches are found on. |
| Bird | Chickadee (Parus atricapillus) 1927 |
| Cat | Maine Coon Cat, 1985 One of the oldest natural breeds in North America, the Maine Coon is regarded as a native of the state of Maine. Most Coon Cat breeders believe that the breed originated in matings between pre-existing shorthaired domestic cats and overseas longhairs (perhaps Angora types introduced by New England seamen, or longhairs brought to America by the Vikings). |
| Fish | Landlocked Salmon (Salmo salar Sebago) 1969 A subspecies of the Atlantic salmon, live in the lakes of the northern United States without ever descending to sea. Landlocked salmon attain a maximum weight of about 35 lbs. The two most important landlocked populations of the Atlantic salmon are the Sebago salmon, commonly found in New Hampshire, Maine, and New Brunswick, and the ouananiche, of Lac Saint-Jean, Canada. |
| Flag | State Flag, 1909 |
| Flower | White pine cone and tassel (Pinus strobus, linnaeus) February 1, 1895 |
| Fossil | Pertica quadrifaria, 1985 Scientific name of a primitive plant that lived about 390,000,000 years ago during the Devonian Period. Its fossilized remains were discovered in 1968 in the rocks of the Trout Valley Formation in Baxter State Park near Mount Katahdin. Based on the type of rock it is found in today and the other fossils associated with it, Pertica quadrifaria grew in a brackish or freshwater marsh near an active volcano. Fragments of the plants were preserved when they fell into the marsh and were covered by sediment before they could decay. After millions of years of burial, the plant remains are now exposed along eroding stream banks. |
| Gemstone | Tourmaline, 1971 |
| Herb | Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) 1999 Grows in wooded areas and in some clearings from Canada to Georgia. The low growing, glossy leafed herb provides an attractive ground cover; in particular from fall to winter when red berries adorn the plants. In July, the plants bloom, producing white bell shaped flowers. |
| Insect | Honeybee (Apis mallifera) 1975 |
| Language of the Deaf Community |
American Sign Language, 1991 |
| Motto | Dirigo (I lead) |
| Seal | Great Seal, 1919 |
| Soil | Chesuncook Soil Series, 1999 Chesuncook soil is a soil type that was first identified in Maine and is one of the most widely distributed soil types in Maine. The soil series name comes from the Native American word for converging bodies of water. A lake written about in Henry David Thoreau's “The Maine Woods” also shares the name. |
| Song | "State of Maine Song" 1937 Written by Roger Vinton Snow Composed by Roger Vinton Snow |
| Tartan | State Tartan, designed in 1964 by Sol Gillis. |
| Tree | White Pine, (Pinaceae Pinus strobus) 1945 |
| Vessel | Schooner (Bowdoin) 1987 The artic exploration schooner "Bowdoin" |
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