List of Vermont state symbols
Encyclopedia
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
has many symbols, some officially codified by legislation (mineral, flower, bird, beverage, pie, mammal, song, insect, tree, and fish), and several unofficial symbols. These unofficial symbols of Vermont include maple syrup
Maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...
; the Eastern White Pine
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...
(Pinus strobus), which was worn as a badge by the Green Mountain Boys
Green Mountain Boys
The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants...
and appears on the Vermont coat of arms
Coat of arms of Vermont
The coat of arms of Vermont is the official armorial bearings of the U.S. state of Vermont. Most of the elements found in the coat of arms originate in the Great Seal of Vermont designed by Ira Allen...
and Vermont Military Crest
Vermont Military Crest
The Vermont Military Crest was first used in the coats of arms of units of Vermont state regiments, and later by the Vermont National Guard, as granted by the precursor organizations of what is now the United States Army Institute of Heraldry...
; and the White-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
(Odocoileus virginianus) also appearing on the state's coat of arms. The number 14 figures prominentally in the state's history and lore. The Vermont Republic
Vermont Republic
The term Vermont Republic has been used by later historians for the government of what became modern Vermont from 1777 to 1791. In July 1777 delegates from 28 towns met and declared independence from jurisdictions and land claims of British colonies in New Hampshire and New York. They also...
lasted for fourteen years, the pine tree on the Great Seal of Vermont has fourteen branches, the state has fourteen counties, and Vermont was the fourteenth state in the Union.
Vermont's state song is "These Green Mountains
These Green Mountains
"These Green Mountains" is the official state song of Vermont. The song, composed by Diane Martin and arranged by Rita Buglass Gluck was made official on May 22, 2000, when then governor Howard Dean signed Act 99. The previous official state song of Vermont was "Hail to Vermont!".- Lyrics :"These...
," composed by Diane Martin and arranged by Rita Buglass Gluck. This song was officially designated as the state song on 22 May 2000. This song replaced "Hail to Vermont!," which was written by Josephine Hovey-Perry and made the state song in 1938. However, "Moonlight in Vermont"
Moonlight in Vermont (song)
"Moonlight in Vermont" is a popular song about the U.S. state of Vermont, written by John Blackburn and Karl Suessdorf and published in 1943. The lyrics are unusual in that they do not rhyme...
remains an unofficial favorite.
The state bird is the hermit thrush
Hermit Thrush
The Hermit Thrush is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of Catharus, but rather to the Mexican Russet Nightingale-thrush.-Description:...
(Catharus guttatus). This was adopted in 1941. The bird was only designated after debate in the legislature; though the hermit thrush is found in all of 14 counties and has a distinctive sweet call, it leaves the state during the winter for its yearly southward migration. Many legislators favored the blue jay
Blue Jay
The Blue Jay is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to North America. It is resident through most of eastern and central United States and southern Canada, although western populations may be migratory. It breeds in both deciduous and coniferous forests, and is common near and in...
(Cyanocitta cristata) or the crow
Crow
Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
.
The Red Clover
Red clover
Trifolium pratense is a species of clover, native to Europe, Western Asia and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalised in many other regions....
(Trifolium pratense) was designated as the state flower in 1895. The red clover is often seen in the countryside of Vermont hosting the state insect – the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera), designated by Act 124 of the 1978 biennial session of the Vermont General Assembly
Vermont General Assembly
The Vermont General Assembly is the legislative body of the U.S. state of Vermont. The Legislature is formally known as the "General Assembly," but the style of "Legislature" is commonly used, including by the body itself...
. A natural companion and frequent visitor to the state flower, the honey bee was chosen for its agricultural benefits, and for being a "social" insect and representing the unity side of Vermont's state motto Freedom and Unity
Freedom and Unity
"Freedom and Unity" is the official motto of the U.S. state of Vermont. The motto was first adopted in 1788 for use on the Great Seal of the Vermont Republic. Ira Allen designed the Vermont seal and is often credited as its author...
.
Vermont has two official state fish as of 1978: the cold-water fish, the brook trout
Brook trout
The brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...
(Salvelinus fontinalis) and the warm-water fish, the walleye
Walleye
Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...
(Sander vitreous vitreous).
The state tree is the sugar maple
Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum is a species of maple native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, and south to Georgia and Texas...
(Acer saccharum), effective in 1949. The sugar maple is the source of maple syrup
Maple syrup
Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species such as the bigleaf maple. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then...
, Vermont's most famous export.
The Morgan horse
Morgan horse
The Morgan is one of the earliest horse breeds developed in the United States. Tracing back to the stallion Figure, later named Justin Morgan after his best-known owner, the breed excels in many disciplines, and is known for its versatility....
became the state mammal in 1961. The Morgan horse is a horse breed
Horse breed
Horse breed is a broad term with no clear consensus as to definition, but most commonly refers to selectively bred populations of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a very broad sense to define landrace animals, or...
originally from Vermont, and named for Justin Morgan
Justin Morgan
Justin Morgan was a U.S. horse breeder and composer.He was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts, and by 1788 had settled in Vermont. In addition to being a horse breeder and farmer, he was a teacher of singing; in that capacity he traveled considerably throughout the northeastern states...
. The state maintains standards and develops bloodlines for the breed at the University of Vermont's
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
Morgan Horse Farm at Weybridge
Weybridge, Vermont
Weybridge is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 824 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 17.6 square miles , of which 17.0 square miles is land and 0.6 square mile is...
.
The state amphibian, adopted by the legislature in 1997, is the Northern Leopard Frog
Northern Leopard Frog
The Northern Leopard Frog is a species of leopard frog from the true frog family, native to parts of Canada and United States. It is the state amphibian of Minnesota and Vermont.-Physical description:...
(Rana pipiens).
Vermont has also designated an official state mineral (talc
Talc
Talc is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula H2Mg34 or Mg3Si4O102. In loose form, it is the widely-used substance known as talcum powder. It occurs as foliated to fibrous masses, its crystals being so rare as to be almost unknown...
), pie
Pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....
(apple pie
Apple pie
An apple pie is a fruit pie in which the principal filling ingredient is apples. It is sometimes served with whipped cream or ice cream on top...
), soil ("Tunbridge Soil Series"), beverage (milk), gem (grossular garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
), and fossil (the beluga skeleton at the University of Vermont's Perkins Geology Museum).
The state reptile is the painted turtle
Painted Turtle
The painted turtle is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to Louisiana and northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The turtle is the only species of the genus Chrysemys, which is part of the pond turtle...
. The state rocks are granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, and slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
.
Vermont is distinct for being among only three U.S. states with both a state seal and a coat of arms.
Coat of arms of Vermont
The coat of arms of Vermont is the official armorial bearings of the U.S. state of Vermont. Most of the elements found in the coat of arms originate in the Great Seal of Vermont designed by Ira Allen...
Vermont is the only U.S. state to have a heraldically correct blazon
Blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
describing its coat of arms.
See also
- List of Vermont-related topics
- Lists of United States state insignia
- State of Vermont