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Idaho State Symbols

Welcome to the Gem of the Mountains! Idaho has some exciting symbols, but they get off to a bad start . . . (Continued below)

Idaho State Flag
Nicknames & Slogans
Nicknames The Gem State, Gem of the Mountains, Land of Famous Potatoes  
Symbols of State
Motto Esto Perpetua 1891
Song Here We Have Idaho 1931
EcoSymbols
Flower Syringa (Philadelphus lewisii) 1931
Tree western white pine (Pinus monticola) 1935
Fruit huckleberry (Vaccinium) 2000
Vegetable potato (Solanum tuberosum) 2002
Bird mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) 1931
Raptor peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) 2004
Horse Appaloosa (Equus caballus) 1975
Amphibian Idaho giant salamander (Dicamptodon aterrimus) 2015
Fish cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) 1990
Insect monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) 1992
Gem Stone Idaho star garnet 1967
Fossil † Hagerman horse (Equus simplicidens) 1988
Dinosaur † Oryctodromeus 2022
Soil Thrreebear (unofficial) Unofficial
Cultural Symbols
American Folk Dance of Idaho square dance Redundant Symbol 1989
Writer-in-Residence (various) 1923
Language English Redundant Symbol 2007

Idaho is cursed with one of the ugliest state flags. Fortunately, there are some inspirational icons in its state seal, including an elk and the state flower, Syringa.

How could a state as beautiful as Idaho be so closely associated with the lowly potato? Land of Famous Potatoes has to be one of the strangest state nicknames. Is Idaho owned by McDonalds?

Idaho’s state bird and fruit, the mountain bluebird and huckleberry, complement each other. However, Idaho is perhaps best distinguished as the only state with two official horses, the beautiful Appaloosa and the Hagerman horse, which was designated the state fossil.

Idaho boasts what may be America’s fastest state symbol. Can you guess what it is?

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If you think state flags and flowers are nothing more than trivia, guess again. A thorough exploration of the more than 1,500 items adopted as state symbols embraces geography, history, and psychology.

You have found the best state symbols website, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The introduction above is adapted from Geobop’s State Symbols and My State Symbols Book, by far the biggest and most detailed state symbols references ever. You can learn still more about the symbols of the 50 states in the books Flag Quest and Grading the States. (Learn more about them here.)

After you spend some time exploring your favorite state’s symbols, you can come back here and tell us what you think about them.

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