State Symbols
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ake Superior agates. Common loons. Pink and white lady's slippers and Norway pines. Walleyes and wild rice. All are characteristic of Minnesota, and all capture L the essence of the state. Over the course of Minnesota’s statehood, the Legislature has adopted 19 such symbols to identify the state's great resources and quality of life. The State Seal Capt. Seth Eastman, an artist who 2 was also the commanding officer at Fort he Great Seal of Minnesota Snelling, designed the seal.▼ has been around for 150 years — even before Minnesota be- State came a state. But its existence has The State Flag not been without controversy. he Minnesota state flag was It was on May 25, 1858 Symbols adopted by the Legislature — two weeks after Minnesota became a T in 1893 when it accepted the state — that then Secretary of State Francis design submitted by Amelia Baasen said to Gov. Henry H. Sibley that, Hyde Center of Minneapolis. “My office being without a seal, I can of to urge people to display it in preparation The flag depicts the state seal course do no official act unless you make for the state’s centennial in 1958.▼ on a blue background. The seal some direction in the matter.” T shows a Sibley immediately authorized the use pioneer of the territorial seal until a new design plowing The State Bird could be created and agreed upon. the virgin In 1858, the Legisla- he Legislature adopted the prairie ture approved a common loon as the state and an vastly differ- bird in 1961. E American ent seal, but The sleek-looking bird can Indian on for some attain speeds of up to 60 mph horseback. At the top of the seal reason it and can travel great distances is the state motto, “L’Etoile du was never under water. The loon’s legs are Nord,” or star of the north. Three T officially near the rear of its body, enabling it to dates on the flag signify the establishment adopted dive under water quickly, quietly and with of historic Fort Snelling in 1819, the into law. great speed. acceptance of Minnesota as a state in 1858 Historians still But its legs weren’t made for walking. and the adoption of the state flag in 1893. aren’t sure why, The loon earned its name from the old The 19 stars on the flag symbolize but speculation has it that Sibley didn’t English word “lumme,” meaning awkward Minnesota as the 19th state to be admit- like the design and conveniently “lost” person. The loon ventures on land only ted to the Union after the original 13. The the bill in favor of the territorial design. when nesting and breeding. And even largest of these stars is centered above In any case, the Legislature, in 1861, when then, the nest is always near the water. the seal to symbolize the north star state. notified that the governor may have acted Its wings are also very small. As a result, The original flag had two sides, outside his authority, approved the design the loon, which averages about 9 pounds, blue on one side and white and it was signed into law. needs between 20 yards and a quarter on the other. So the essential elements of the mile to take off. But because territorial seal — a barefoot settler plowing Its distinctive features include a the flag was so a field near the Mississippi River, an black-and-white checkered pattern expensive to make, and because American Indian riding a horse and a on its back it was easily damaged in high sunset — have remained ever since. a n d winds, the Legislature adopted But these too, have changed slightly the one-sided, all-blue over the years. Prompted by American design in 1957. The Indian objection, the Legislature, in 1983, idea was to produce decreed that the American Indian should the flag more cheaply face the settler by riding south rather than fleeing west. an intense red eye, which is found only before the plant produces a flower. Under of other names, too — yellow pike, yellow in adults. Its head is a dark green but is the right conditions, lady's slippers can perchpike and yellow pickerel. often mistaken for black. The description live for more than 100 years. The pink and Minnesota’s record walleye, caught in applies to both males and females, making white lady's slipper can grow to a height of 1979 in the Sea Gull River at Saganaga it difficult to distinguish them. 3 feet and is the tallest of the state’s lady's Lake in Cook County, weighed Loons are loners and prefer Minnesota’s slippers.▼ 17 pounds, 8 ounces.▼ isolated lakes, leading some to label their distinctive call as “the loneliest voice on earth.”▼ The State Mushroom The State Soil he morchella esculenta, lthough it’s only found in commonly known as the 17 counties located in south- The State Flower morel, sponge mushroom or central Minnesota, Lester ou might think twice before honeycomb morel, became was designated the state soil picking the Minnesota state Minnesota’s state in 2012. flower — the pink and mushroom in Named because of white lady's slipper. In 1922, 1984.T A its prevalence in the area the Legislature passed a law The morel is considered around Lester Prairie, the soil is well- making it illegal to pick the rare one of the most highly drained and formed in loamy, calcareous flower that is typically found in prized and delicious of glacial till on ground moraines. Principal theY swamps, bogs and damp woods of all edible mushrooms. crops grown in Lester soil are corn and northern Minnesota. The morel’s cups resemble soybeans. In 1893, a group of women preparing an cone-shaped sponges, pitted According to the Minnesota Asso- exhibit of the state’s products for the World’s like a honeycomb. The morel ciation of Professional Soil Scientists, the Fair in Chicago is usually 4 inches to 8 inches impetus behind the naming of a state soil decided they high. is to celebrate “a century of soil science should have It grows from early May to early June in at the University of Minnesota,” as well a s t a t e the Twin Cities metropolitan area among as the 40th anniversary of MAPSS. The flower to leaves or wood ashes in open woods, association chose the dirt as the state’s ▼ decorate along roadsides and in partially shaded unofficial soil back in 1987. their meadowland. ▼ display. The State Gemstone T h e y The State Fish lthough the Legislature didn’t f all Minnesota’s state sym- adopt the Lake Superior agate bols, none is more eagerly as the official state gemstone sought after than the wall- until 1969, agates were being eye — the official state fish. formed about a billion years Every year in Minnesota, petitioned before that. more than 1 million anglers legislators to A As the North American take to the water on one of the adopt the wild O continent began to split apart due to state’s 1,700 walleye lakes in pursuit of the lady's slipper as molten rock moving deep elusive walleye. the state flower, beneath the earth’s In May 1965, the Legislature adopted and the Legislature surface, iron-rich the walleye as the state fish. It was chosen complied. But several years later, officials lava poured out of for its value to both sport and commercial discovered that the wild lady's slipper the huge crevasses. fishing. named in law didn’t grow in Minnesota. These flows are now The walleye gets its name from its eyes, So during the 1902 special session exposed along the north and south shores which have a milky appearance of the Legislature, a new of Lake Superior. like bluish-white marbles. resolution was adopted that The stone’s red color But it’s known by a variety changed the state flower to the comes from pink and white lady's slipper. iron, the major A member of the orchid industrial family, the pink and white mineral in lady's slipper is one the state. of Minnesota’s rarest The concentration wildflowers. It blooms in late June or early July, and it takes between four and 16 years of iron, and the extent to which the iron has oxidized, determines the color of the The State Photograph The State Grain stone. Puddles of quartz-rich solutions world-renowned photograph or centuries, wild rice has been that crystallize inside the gas pocket became the state’s 14th state a staple for the American Indians under low fluid pressure cause the white symbol in 2002. of northern Minnesota. bands that are typically found in agates. Shot in Bovey, Minn., To recognize that, and the The parallel nature of the bands indicates by Eric Enstrom in 1918, fact that Minnesota is a leading the agate’s position inside the lava flow. “Grace” features an elderly producer of natural wild Characteristics of the agate include a A man sitting pensively with rice in the nation, the his head bowed and hands folded. He is F glossy, waxy appearance, a pitted surface Legislature texture and iron-oxide staining. The stone leaning over a table, and on the table is adopted wild is translucent.▼ a pair of spectacles resting atop a thick rice as the book, a bowl of gruel, a loaf of bread and state grain in a knife. 1977. The State Muffin A copy of the state photograph is Wild rice, displayed in the Office of the Secretary which is really a grain, grows naturally in s an exercise to see how a of State in St.