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Arizona state symbols

Arizona has 25 official state symbols. The saguaro blossom was the territorial flower as early as 1901; the newest symbol is Pluto, the official state planet since 2024. In between, Arizona has named a state necktie, a state revolver, a state drink and a hummingbird capital.

25 official designations · every law checked October 23, 2026

From desert flowers to a dwarf planet

Arizona’s earliest symbols came straight from the desert. The white blossom of the saguaro was chosen as the territorial flower in 1901 and confirmed as the state flower in 1931, the same year the cactus wren became the state bird. The palo verde, a green-barked desert tree, followed in 1954, and turquoise, the state gemstone, in 1974. The state colors, blue and old gold, are older still: they were adopted in 1915, two years before the flag.

In 1986 the legislature added four animals at once: the ringtail, the Arizona ridge-nosed rattlesnake, the Apache trout and the Arizona tree frog. They were reportedly chosen by schoolchildren in a wildlife awareness program run by the state’s Game and Fish Department. The two-tailed swallowtail followed in 2001 as the state butterfly, with an unusual clause stating that the designation gives no legal protection to the butterfly or its habitat.

Copper, rocks and a dinosaur

Mining shaped Arizona, and its symbols show it. Copper became the official state metal in 2015 after a fourth-grade civics class at Copper Creek Elementary School proposed it to their state senator. Petrified wood is the state fossil, wulfenite the state mineral since 2017, and Sonorasaurus, a long-necked dinosaur found in the southern Arizona desert, the state dinosaur since 2018.

The unexpected ones

Some of Arizona’s newer symbols are pure Southwest style. The bola tie has been the official state neckwear since 1971. The Colt Single Action Army revolver, the “Peacemaker” of Western films, became the official state firearm in 2011, making Arizona the second state with one. Lemonade became the official state drink in 2019. And in 2021 the legislature named Sierra Vista, in the southeastern corner of the state, the official hummingbird capital of Arizona, slipping the title into a bill that had started out being about archaeology.

The newest symbol looks furthest afield. In 2024 Arizona adopted Pluto as its official state planet. Pluto was discovered in 1930 at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, and Arizonans have stayed loyal to it even after astronomers reclassified it as a dwarf planet in 2006.

Songs

Arizona has two official songs. The state song is the “Arizona March Song,” written in 1915 and adopted in 1919; its words are old enough to be in the public domain. In 1982 the legislature also named “Arizona,” written and recorded by Willcox native Rex Allen Jr., as an alternate state anthem. The state owns its copyright.

The main symbols

The flag, the cactus wren and the saguaro blossom each have their own page. The state seal, set out in the constitution, may be reproduced only with the Secretary of State’s approval, so it is described here but not shown.

5 1910s 2 1930s 1 1950s 2 1970s 6 1990s 1 6 2010s 2 2020s
Official symbols adopted per decade. The busiest decades were the 1980s and 2010s, with six each.

Flag, seal, song, motto and nickname

Animals

Plants and fungi

Earth and sky

Food and drink

Songs, words and language

Culture and history

Places and institutions

Questions about Arizona's symbols

What is the Arizona state animal?
Arizona's state mammal is the ringtail, adopted in 1986 along with a state reptile (the Arizona ridge-nosed rattlesnake), a state fish (the Apache trout) and a state amphibian (the Arizona tree frog).
Why is Pluto Arizona's state planet?
Pluto was discovered in 1930 at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, by Clyde Tombaugh. The legislature made it the official state planet in 2024.
What is Arizona's state drink?
Lemonade, adopted in 2019.
Does Arizona have a state song?
It has two. The official state song is the "Arizona March Song" (1915, adopted 1919), and "Arizona," written and sung by Rex Allen Jr., is the alternate state anthem (1982).
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