Welcome to the "Mini-Apple"
a.k.a Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes! |
 MINNESOTA STATE BIRD: Loon (Gavia immer); adopted 1961.
MINNESOTA STATE BUTTERFLY: Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus); adopted 2000. MINNESOTA STATE DRINK: Milk; adopted 1984. MINNESOTA STATE FISH: Walleye (Stizostedion v. vitreum); adopted 1965. MINNESOTA STATE FLAG: adopted 1893. MINNESOTA STATE FLOWER: Pink-and-white lady slipper. Also known as showy lady slipper. (Cypripedium reginae); adopted 1893. MINNESOTA STATE GEMSTONE: Lake Superior agate; adopted 1969. MINNESOTA STATE GRAIN: Wild rice (Zizania aquatica); adopted 1977. MINNESOTA STATE MOTTO: Quae sursum volo videre; adopted 1849. This was the intended motto for the territorial seal, chosen by Henry Sibley, meaning "I wish to see what is above" (generally construed as "I wish to see what is beyond"). As engraved, however, it became Quo sursum velo videre (unintelligible, but something like "I cover to see what is above"). L'etoile du Nord ("Star of the North"); adopted 1858/1861. This motto also was chosen by Sibley for the state seal; was not formally approved by the legislature until 1861, when the state seal was approved (1861 Minn. Laws Chap. 43). MINNESOTA STATE MUFFIN: Blueberry; adopted 1988. MINNESOTA STATE MUSHROOM: Morel (Morchella esculenta); adopted 1984. The morel is also known as sponge mushroom or honeycomb morel. MINNESOTA STATE PHOTO: "Grace"; adopted 2002. The photograph "Grace" depicts an elderly man bowing his head and giving thanks. It was taken in Bovey, Minnesota, in 1918, by Eric Enstrom, and is on display in the Minnesota Secretary of State's office. MINNESOTA STATE SEAL: adopted 1861. MINNESOTA STATE SONG: "Hail! Minnesota"; adopted 1945. Music and first verse by Truman E. Rickard (1904); second verse by Arthur E. Upson (1905). Altered slightly from the original (used as the University of Minnesota alma mater) when adopted as the state song.In 1987 Sen. William Diessner and Rep. Leonard Price sponsored a bill that would have directed Lt. Gov. Marlene Johnson to conduct a contest to choose a new state song. It failed.Clippings in the Library's files include some tangentially related material: "He's my G-O-V-E-R-N-O-R," a rap song composed by David Pattridge, choir director of Hastings Middle School, about Gov. Rudy Perpich; "Minnesota Melody" by Douglas Wood (1984), published by the Minnesota Division of Parks and Recreation Visitor Services; "Minnesota Real," the winner of a write-your-own-state-song contest sponsored by Metropolis (published 25 January 1977); and the University of Minnesota "Rouser" ("Minnesota, hats off to thee, ..."). MINNESOTA STATE TREE: Red or Norway pine (Pinus resinosa); adopted 1945. |