List of West Virginia state symbols

The following is a list of symbols of the U.S. state of West Virginia.

Insignia

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Type Symbol Year Image
Coat of arms The Coat of Arms of West Virginia 1863[1]  
Flag The flag of West Virginia consists of the coat of arms, wreathed below in rhododendron and bannered with "State of West Virginia" above, on a white field bound in blue 1929[1]  
Motto Montani Semper Liberi
(Mountaineers [are] Always Free)
1863,[1][2] 1872[3]
Seal The Great Seal of the State of West Virginia 1863[1][2]  

Flora and fauna

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Type Symbol Year Image
Animal Black bear 1954,[1] 1973[3]  
Bird Cardinal 1949[1]  
Butterfly Monarch butterfly 1995[3]  
Fish Brook trout 1973[1]  
Flower Rhododendron 1903[1]  
Fruit Apple 1972[3]  
Golden Delicious apple 1995[3]
Insect Honey bee 2002[3]  
Reptile Timber rattlesnake 2008[4]  
Tree Sugar maple 1949[1][3]  

Inanimate

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Type Symbol Year Image
Fossil Jefferson's ground sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii) 2008[4]
Gem Silicified Mississippian Lithostrotionella coral 1990[3]  
Rock Bituminous coal 2009[5]  
Soil Monongahela 1997[3][6]

Cultural

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Type Symbol Year Image
Colors Old gold and blue 1963[1]
Official holiday West Virginia Day – June 20 1927[3]
Official songs "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "The West Virginia Hills," "West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home" and "This Is My West Virginia" 1971, 1963, 2014[7]
Tartan West Virginia Shawl (adaptation) 2008[8]  

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "State Symbols". West Virginia's State Treasurer's Office. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Wrap-up: The Newsletter of the West Virginia Legislature" (PDF). XVIII (7). West Virginia Legislature. February 28, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2012. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "State Symbols". West Virginia Legislature. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 28". West Virginia Legislature. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  5. ^ Ward, Ken (June 3, 2009). "Coal: West Virginia's official rock". The Charleston Gazette. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  6. ^ "Monongahela -- West Virginia State Soil" (PDF). US Department of Agriculture. Retrieved July 18, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ [1] Archived March 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "House Concurrent Resolution No. 29 (2008)". West Virginia Legislature. Retrieved July 18, 2012.