Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Minnesota Index: State symbols – official and proposed

Minnesota state flag
Minnesota state flag

Official state symbols

Year the state seal was designated: 1861

Year L’etoile du Nord (“Star of the North”) was designated state motto: 1861

Year Hail Minnesota was designated the state song: 1945

Year the Red or Norway Pine was designated the state tree: 1953                      

Year the current state flag was designated: 1957

Year the Loon was designated the state bird: 1961

Year the Walleye was designated the state fish: 1965

Year the Pink and White Lady Slipper was designated state flower: 1967

Year the Lake Superior Agate was designated state gemstone: 1969

Year Wild Rice was designated the state grain: 1977

Year Milk was designated the state drink: 1984

Year the Morel was designated the state mushroom: 1984

Year Blueberry was designated the state muffin: 1988

Year the Monarch was designated the state butterfly: 2000

Year the state photograph was designated: 2002

Year the Honeycrisp Apple was designated the state fruit: 2006

Year Ice Hockey was designated the state sport: 2009

Year Lester was designated the state soil: 2012

 

Proposed state symbols — when bills proposing them were introduced

Years the Eastern Timber Wolf proposed as state animal/mammal: 1969-2000 (6 times)

Years the White-tailed Deer proposed as state animal: 1971-1989 (8 times)

Year Schell’s Deer Brand and Cold Spring each proposed as state beer: 1987

Year “Little House on the Prairie” proposed as state book: 1990

Year Iron Ore proposed as state mineral: 1990

Years the Square Dance proposed as state dance: 1992, 1994

Year Licorice proposed as state candy: 1997

Year Wild Rice proposed as the state soup: 1998

Years the Northern Leopard Frog proposed as state amphibian: 1998, 1999

Years the Blanding’s Turtle proposed as state reptile: 1998, 1999

Year the Tilt-A-Whirl proposed as state amusement ride: 2007

Year Minnesota Blue proposed as state poem: 2008

 

Sources: http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/Symbols

             http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/unsym


Related Articles


Priority Dailies

Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, husband killed in attack
House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, pictured during the 2023 legislative session. (House Photography file photo) House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot in their home early Saturday morning. Gov. Tim Walz announced the news dur...
Lawmakers deliver budget bills to governor's desk in one-day special session
House Speaker Lisa Demuth gavels out the one-day, June 9 special session. Members are scheduled to be back together in St. Paul on Feb. 17, 2026. (Photo by Michele Jokinen) About that talk of needing all 21 hours left in a legislative day to complete a special session? House members were more than up to the challenge Monday. Beginning at 10 a.m...