West Virginia State Symbols

West Virginia State Symbols, Emblems, and Mascots

West Virginia Symbols, Emblems, and Mascots

West Virginia has a variety of national and state parks as well as natural resources where students can experience whitewater adventures, hiking, skiing, and camping opportunities. West Virginia offers students a refuge from major metropolitan living in favor of a more relaxed pace and style.

In 1861, Virginians in the northwestern part of the state defied Virginia's secession from the United States. The region chose to remain in the Union and form a new state. West Virginia was admitted into the Union in 1863, after conditions requiring the gradual emancipation of slaves had been met. The state motto is "Mountaineers are always free," and West Virginia lives up to its nickname of the "Mountain State." With an average altitude of 1,500 feet above sea level, it's the highest of any state east of the Mississippi River. For a long time, West Virginia was a leading producer of coal in North America, but many people left to pursue better employment opportunities. That trend has turned around, and now the state's economy is in a more stable condition. The capital is Charleston, and the state flower is the Rhododendron (Big Laurel) (Rhodedendron Maximum).

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



West Virginia State Symbols, Emblems, and Mascots

Symbols

Symbol Name - (Species)

Animal Black Bear
(Ursus americanus)
Bird Cardinal
(Cardinalis cardinalis)
Butterfly Monarch Butterfly
(Danaus plexippus)
Coat of Arms Coat of Arms
Colors Old Gold and Blue
Day West Virginia Day
Firearm Hall flintlock model 1819
Fish Brook Trout
(Salvelinus fontinalis)
Flag State Flag
Flower Rhododendron (Big Laurel)
(Rhodedendron Maximum)
Fossil Megalonyx jeffersonii
Fruit Golden Delicious Apple
Gem Lithostrotionella, Chalcedony
Insect Honeybee
(Apis mellifera)
Military Crest Military Crest
Motto Montani semper liberi
(Mountaineers are always free)
Reptile Timber rattlesnake
Rock Bituminous coal
Seal Great Seal
Nicknames "The Mountain State"
Quarter West Virginia State Quarter
Soil Monongahela Silt Loam
Song "The West Virginia Hills"
Words by Mrs. Ellen King
Music by H. E. Engle
Song "West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home"
by Julian G. Hearne, Jr.
Song "This is My West Virginia"
by Iris Bell
Song "Take Me Home Country Roads"
by John Denver, Taffy Nivert, and Bill Canoff
Tartan West Virginia shawl
Tree Sugar Maple
(Acer saccarum)
US State Symbols
State symbols represent things that are special to a particular state.