About StatesFacts
An independent guide to the 50 states, written from the laws, archives and official records behind every fact.
What you will find here
Each of the 50 states has its own guide: a page on the state as a whole, the story of its capital and every city that held the title before it, its flag, its state bird and state flower, and a complete list of its official symbols, 1,574 in all across the 50 states, each with the year it was adopted and the law that made it official.
National pages bring the states together: capitals, flags, birds, flowers, trees, symbols and nicknames, the Census regions and the states by letter with where each name comes from. Birds, flowers and trees shared by several states, such as the northern cardinal, have pages of their own that tell how each state came to choose them.
Written, not compiled
Lists of state symbols are easy to find. What is harder to find is the story behind them: why Utah's fourth graders wanted the quaking aspen, why Ohio's flag is the only one that is not a rectangle, or why Delaware counts as part of the South. Every page here is written to answer the questions people actually ask, with the answer first and the background after.
Sourced and checked
Every fact carries a source, and every page lists its sources. Symbols are checked against the statutes, session laws and resolutions that created them, and history against state archives, secretaries of state, historical societies and university encyclopedias. Read how we verify for the full process, and see the sources for each state.
Independent
StatesFacts is not affiliated with any state or federal government agency. State flags and the text of state laws are public; we do not reproduce state seals, whose use many states restrict, or song lyrics that are still under copyright.
Using our pages
Teachers and students are welcome to link to any page and to use our quizzes and printables in class. If you cite a fact, please cite the original source listed at the bottom of the page as well as StatesFacts.
Who publishes this site
The company that publishes StatesFacts is identified in our privacy policy. You can reach us at [email protected].