Alabama State Symbols

Alabama State Symbols, Emblems, and Mascots

Alabama Symbols, Emblems, and Mascots

Alabama offers students with a variety of recreational activities on the white sand beaches of the Gulf Coast or in the crisp air and serene beauty of mountains to the north. Students in Alabama can visit one of the several rock formations where Native Americans lived long ago, or see the Natural Bridge Rock, the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies.

Alabama does not have an official nickname, but is known as the "Heart of Dixie." Alabama has also been known as the cotton state and the yellowhammer state.  Alabama entered the union as the 22nd state in 1819. The name 'Alabama' is derived from an Indian word meaning "thicket clearers." Alabama has been at the center of many American battles--between white settlers and Native Americans, and between the North and South in the Civil War. The capital is Montgomery, and state wild flower is the oak-leaf hydrangea and the state flower is the Camellia.

Alabama State Symbols contains descriptions and pictures of the state symbols, emblems, and mascots of the state of Alabama, which can be quickly accessed. This resource guide represents many of Alabama state facts such as the state flower, the state gemstone, the state insect, the state tree, the state bird, the state animal, the state flag that flies over Alabama, and the capital, as well as many more symbols, emblems, and mascots.

The items on the list have been officially sanctioned by the Alabama Legislature. Alabama has over 40 official state emblems. The oldest of which is the Alabama State Bible, from 1853; the most recently designated is the peach, Alabama's state tree fruit, established in 2006. The state has no official nickname, although "Heart of Dixie" was strongly promoted by the Alabama Chamber of Commerce in the 1940s and 1950s, and put on state license plates.

In 2002 the phrase "Stars Fell on Alabama" began to appear on license plates. It refers to the night of November 12, 1833, when a fantastic meteor shower seen across the Southeast caused this night to be known as "the night stars fell on Alabama."The shower created such great excitement across the state that it became a part of Alabama folklore and for years was used to date events. A century later it inspired a song and book.



Alabama State Symbols, Emblems, & Mascots

Symbols

Symbol Name - (Species)

Agricultural Insect Queen Honey Bee
(Apis mellifera) - June 30, 2015
Agriculture Museum Dothan Landmark Park
American Folk Dance Square Dance
Amphibian Red Hills salamander
(Phaeognathus hubrichti Highton)
Barbeque Championship Demopolis "Christmas on the River Barbeque Cook-off"
Bible State Bible
Bird Yellowhammer
(Colaptes auratus, Linnaeus)
Butterfly and Mascot Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Papilio glaucus)
Cake Lane cake 2016
Creed Alabamian's Creed
Coat of Arms Coat-of-Arms
Crustacean Brown shrimp - May 5, 2015
Flag Crimson Cross of St. Andrew/white field
Flower Camellia
(Camellia japonica L.)
Fossil Zeuglodon
(Basilosaurus Cetoides)
Fresh Water Fish Largemouth Bass
(Micropterus punctulatus)
Fruit Blackberry
(Rubus occidentalis)
Game Bird Wild Turkey
Gemstone Star Blue Quartz
Historic Theatre Alabama Theatre for the Performing Arts
Horse Racking Horse
Horse Show The Alabama Championship Horse Show
Horseshoe Tournament Stockton Fall Horseshoe Tournament
Insect Monarch Butterfly
(Danaus plexipuss)
Literary Capital of Alabama Monroeville and Monroe County
Mammal Black Bear
(Ursus americanus)
Marine mammal West Indian manatee
(Trichechus manatus)
Mascot and Butterfly Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
(Papilio glaucus)
Mineral Red Iron Ore
(Hematite)
Motto Audemus jura nostra defendere
(We Dare Defend Our Rights)
Nicknames "The Heart of Dixie"
Nut Pecan
(Juglandaceae Carya illinoensis)
Outdoor Drama "The Miracle Worker"
by William Gibson's
Outdoor Musical Drama
"The Incident at Looney's Tavern"
Poets Laureate Honorary office of Poet Laureate of Alabama
Quarter Alabama State Quarter
Quilt Pine Burr Quilt
Renaissance Faire Florence Renaissance Faire
Reptile Red-Bellied Turtle
(Pseudemys alabamensis)
Rock Marble
Saltwater Fish Tarpon
(Tarpon atlanticus)
Seal Great Seal
Shell Johnstone's Junonia
(Scaphella junonia johnstoneae)
Soil Bama Soil Series
Song "Alabama,"
Written by Julia S. Tutwiler
Composed by Edna Gockel Gussen
Spirit Conecuh Ridge Alabama Fine Whiskey
Tree Southern Longleaf Pine
(Pinus palustris Miller)
Tree Fruit Peach 
(Prunus persica)
Wildflower
Oak-leaf hydrangea
(Hydrangea quercifolia Bartr.)
US State Symbols
State symbols represent things that are special to a particular state.