Vermont Statutes: State Symbols

Vermont Statutes

Title 1: General Provisions

Chapter 11: Flag, Insignia, Seal, Etc..

§ 491. Coat of arms; crest; motto and badge

The coat of arms, crest, motto and badge of the state shall be and are described as follows:

(1) Coat of arms. Green, a landscape occupying half of the shield; on the right and left, in the background, high mountains, blue; the sky, yellow. From near the base and reaching nearly to the top of the shield, arises a pine tree of the natural color and between three erect sheaves, yellow, placed diagonally on the right side and a red cow standing on the left side of the field.

(2) Motto and badge. On a scroll beneath the shield, the motto: Vermont; Freedom and Unity. The Vermonter's badge: two pine branches of natural color, crossed between the shield and scroll.

(3) Crest. A buck's head, of natural color, placed on a scroll, blue and yellow.

§ 492. Design of coat of arms

The secretary of state shall keep in the archives of his office a representation of the coat of arms according to the foregoing description.

§ 493. State seal

The state seal shall be the great seal of the state, a faithful reproduction, cut larger and deeper, of the original seal, designed by Ira Allen, cut by Reuben Dean of Windsor and accepted by resolution of the general assembly, dated February 20, 1779. The seal shall be kept by the secretary of civil and military affairs.

§ 494. Use of state seal

The Vermont development board may, with the prior written consent of the governor, reproduce the seal of the state of Vermont in any state sponsored publication whether or not advertising is included in such publication. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 18(a), eff. March 1, 1961.)

§ 495. State flag

The flag of the state shall be blue with the coat of arms of the state thereon.

§ 496. State flags, purchase, distribution

(a) The secretary of state shall, through the department of buildings and general services, obtain state flags and a copy of the Bennington Battle Flag, so-called. He may, in his discretion and on such terms as he finds appropriate, distribute said state flags to other states, to state officials, departments and agencies, and to such other persons as he may determine should have them in the interest of the state. He shall cause the Bennington Battle Flag to be delivered to the custody of the Sergeant at Arms, to be flown at the State House in Montpelier, under the United States Flag, on the 15th, 16th and 17th days of August in each year to commemorate the Battle of Bennington.

(b) The secretary of state shall furnish to the division for historic preservation, under this section, one Vermont state flag and one Bennington Battle Flag to be flown at the Bennington Battle Monument Area. (1961, No. 120, § 1, eff. May 16, 1961; amended 1963, No. 77,§§ 1, 2, eff. May 2, 1963; 1995, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 4(a), eff. May 6, 1996.)

§ 497. State bird

The state bird shall be the hermit thrush.

§ 498. State flower

The state flower shall be the red clover.

§ 499. State tree

The state tree shall be the sugar maple.

§ 500. State animal

The state animal shall be the Morgan horse. (1961, No. 42, eff. March 23, 1961.)

§ 501. [Omitted.].

§ 502. State insect

The state insect shall be the honeybee. (Added 1977, No. 124 (Adj. Sess.).)

§ 503. State beverage

The state beverage shall be milk. (Added 1983, No. 22.)

§ 504. State soil

The state soil shall be the tunbridge soil series. (Added 1985, No. 9.)

§ 505. State butterfly

The state butterfly shall be the monarch. (Added 1987, No. 72.)

§ 506. State gem

The state gem shall be the grossular garnet. (Added 1991, No. 221 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

§ 507. State rocks

The state rocks shall be marble, granite and slate. (Added 1991, No. 221 (Adj. Sess), § 2.)

§ 508. State mineral

The state mineral shall be talc. (Added 1991, No. 221 (Adj. Sess.), § 3.)

§ 509. State fossil

The state fossil shall be the white whale fossilized skeleton at the University of Vermont's Perkins Geology Museum. (Added 1993, No. 66, § 1, eff. June 6, 1993.)

§ 510. State flavor

The state flavor shall be maple from the Vermont sugar maple tree. (Added 1993, No. 139 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

§ 511. State amphibian

The state amphibian shall be the northern leopard frog. (Added 1997, No. 126 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)

§ 512. State pie

The state pie shall be apple pie. (Added 1999, No. 15, § 1.)

§ 513. State fruit

The state fruit shall be the apple. (Added 1999, No. 15, § 3.)

§ 514. State song

The state song shall be "These Green Mountains." (Added 1999, No. 99 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)