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Alaska state symbols

Alaska has 20 official state symbols. The oldest is the forget-me-not, the territorial flower since 1917; the newest are two memorial flags adopted in 2024. Schoolchildren chose several of them, including the flag, the state bird, the state insect and the state dog.

20 official designations · every law checked October 23, 2026

Chosen by children

Alaska’s schoolchildren have shaped its symbols more than most. The flag was designed by Benny Benson, a 13-year-old seventh grader, in a 1927 contest for students in grades 7 through 12. In 1955 about 6,000 schoolchildren picked the willow ptarmigan as the territorial bird, in a contest run through the territorial Department of Education and the Alaska Native Service schools.

The state insect came from a classroom too. Students at Auntie Mary Nicoli Elementary School in Aniak campaigned for the four-spot skimmer dragonfly, and in a statewide vote of public-school students it beat the mosquito by 879 votes, with the butterfly and the bumblebee further behind. Representative Irene Nicholia, who carried the bill in 1995, compared the dragonfly’s hovering, darting flight to the skill of Alaska’s bush pilots. In 2010 elementary students at Polaris K-12 School in Anchorage researched the Alaskan Malamute and persuaded a legislator to sponsor the bill that made it the state dog.

Land, sea and ice age

Most of Alaska’s symbols describe its wild places. The forget-me-not, adopted in 1917 when Alaska was still a territory, was praised in the law as a little wildflower “growing on every hill and in every valley.” The Sitka spruce was picked in 1962 as the state’s most valuable tree, found in both of its national forests. The king salmon followed in 1963, and jade and gold in 1968.

Later additions reached further. The bowhead whale, an Arctic whale hunted for food by Inupiat communities, became the state marine mammal in 1983, with a law praising its “grace, strength and beauty.” The woolly mammoth was adopted in 1986 as the state fossil, because it was once the largest and one of the most common animals in Alaska. The moose became the state land mammal in 1998.

A rifle, and 23 languages

Two newer designations stand out. In 2014 Alaska named a state rifle, but not just any rifle: the Winchester Model 70 bolt-action made before 1964, which the law’s findings call the rifle Alaskans carried while gaining a foothold in the wilderness. The statute even lists the 18 calibers that qualify.

The same year, Alaska added 20 Alaska Native languages to English as official state languages. The list has since grown to 23, from Inupiaq on the Arctic coast to Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian in the southeast. The law recognizes the languages but does not require the government to conduct business in them.

The main symbols

The flag, the willow ptarmigan and the forget-me-not each have their own page. The state song, “Alaska’s Flag,” was written about the flag itself: Marie Drake’s poem appeared in 1935, and Elinor Dusenbury set it to music in 1938. The University of Alaska holds its copyright, so the lyrics are not reproduced here.

1 1910s 1 1930s 2 1950s 6 1 1970s 2 2 1990s 3 2010s 2 2020s
Official symbols adopted per decade. The busiest decade was the 1960s, with six.

Flag, seal, song, motto and nickname

Animals

Plants and fungi

Earth and sky

Songs, words and language

Culture and history

Government emblems

Questions about Alaska's symbols

What is the Alaska state animal?
Alaska has no single state animal. The moose is the state land mammal (1998), the bowhead whale the state marine mammal (1983) and the Alaskan Malamute the state dog (2010).
What is the Alaska state insect?
The four-spot skimmer dragonfly, adopted in 1995 after a statewide vote of schoolchildren. The mosquito came second, 879 votes behind.
What are Alaska's official languages?
English and 23 Alaska Native languages, among them Inupiaq, Yup'ik, Unangax (Aleut), Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian. The designation does not require the government to work in languages other than English.
Does Alaska have a state dinosaur?
Not yet. A 2025 bill would make Nanuqsaurus the state dinosaur, but it has not passed. The woolly mammoth is the state fossil.
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