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Massachusetts state symbols

Massachusetts has about 65 official state symbols, one of the longest lists in the country. The oldest are the motto of 1775 and the seal of 1780; the newest include a state dinosaur, adopted in 2022. Many were proposed by schoolchildren, and the list includes an official groundhog, an official inventor and four official songs.

65 official designations · every law checked October 23, 2026

Flower, tree and bird

The mayflower, a low evergreen with fragrant pink and white flowers in early spring, became the state flower on May 1, 1918. It became scarce from overpicking, and a 1925 law made it an offense to dig it up; the current law even sets a higher fine for doing it in disguise or secretly at night. The American elm and the black-capped chickadee followed together in 1941. The elm was chosen because George Washington took command of the Continental Army under an elm on Cambridge Common in 1775.

The sacred cod

The Atlantic cod is the state fish, and the law calls it the “historic and continuing symbol” of Massachusetts. The cod fisheries built the colony’s early wealth, and a carved wooden “Sacred Cod” has hung in the House of Representatives for centuries. The North Atlantic right whale, the Morgan horse, which traces back to a stallion foaled in West Springfield in 1789, and the Boston terrier, a bulldog-terrier cross bred in the 1860s and one of the first American dog breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club, are also on the list.

Rocks with stories

Massachusetts has more official rocks than most states. In 1983 a single law named four: Roxbury puddingstone, a conglomerate that looks like plum pudding, as the state rock; Plymouth Rock, the traditional landing place of the Pilgrims, as the historical rock, although no Pilgrim account mentions it and it was first identified in 1741; Dighton Rock, a boulder covered in mysterious carvings, as the explorer rock; and granite as the building stone. The state mineral is babingtonite, a rare jet-black mineral, the gem is rhodonite, and the fossil is the dinosaur track; tracks more than 200 million years old are found in the Connecticut River valley.

A child’s-eye list

Schoolchildren proposed a large share of Massachusetts’s symbols. A second-grade class in Franklin suggested the ladybug; schoolchildren petitioned for the corn muffin and the tabby cat; a fifth-grade class lobbied for two years for the cranberry; a Norton High School civics class sponsored Boston cream pie, which beat Indian pudding and the Toll House cookie; and third graders from Somerset proposed the chocolate chip cookie, invented by Ruth Wakefield at the Toll House Inn in Whitman. When third graders in Canton proposed Make Way for Ducklings as the state children’s book, Springfield legislators wanted a book by their native son Dr. Seuss instead. The compromise gave the book title to Make Way for Ducklings, made Dr. Seuss the official children’s author and illustrator, and added the Boston cream donut.

People and places

Massachusetts names people as well as things: Deborah Sampson, who fought in the Revolution disguised as a man, as the state heroine; Johnny Appleseed, born in Leominster, as the folk hero; Benjamin Franklin, born in Boston, as the state inventor; Norman Rockwell as the state artist; and the blues musician Taj Mahal as the state blues artist. Salem is the official birthplace of the National Guard, and Billerica the official Yankee Doodle town. There is even an official groundhog, Ms. G of Mass Audubon, used to teach children about weather.

The dinosaur vote

In 2022 Representative Jack Lewis of Framingham ran an online vote for a state dinosaur. Podokesaurus holyokensis beat Anchisaurus polyzelus with more than 60 percent of about 35,000 votes. It was found in 1910 by Mount Holyoke College professor Mignon Talbot, the first woman to name and describe a dinosaur. The only fossil was destroyed in a fire at the college in 1917, and only casts survive.

The main symbols

The flag, the chickadee and the mayflower each have their own page. Commercial use of the state seal and arms is barred by law, so the seal is described here but not shown.

1 1770s 1 1800s 1830s 1860s 1 1890s 1 1920s 2 1950s 7 16 1980s 14 15 3 2010s 1 2020s
Official symbols adopted per decade. The busiest decade was the 1980s, with 16.

Flag, seal, song, motto and nickname

Animals

Plants and fungi

Earth and sky

Food and drink

Songs, words and language

Culture and history

Government emblems

Places and institutions

Questions about Massachusetts's symbols

What is the Massachusetts state animal?
Massachusetts has no single state animal. Its official animals include the Boston terrier (dog), the tabby cat, the Morgan horse, the right whale (marine mammal), the cod (fish), the chickadee (bird) and the wild turkey (game bird).
What is the Massachusetts state dessert?
Boston cream pie, adopted in 1996. Massachusetts also has a state cookie, the chocolate chip cookie, a state muffin, the corn muffin, and a state donut, the Boston cream donut.
What is the Massachusetts state dinosaur?
Podokesaurus holyokensis, a small meat-eater found in 1910 by Mount Holyoke professor Mignon Talbot, the first woman to name and describe a dinosaur. It won a public online vote and was adopted in 2022.
How many state songs does Massachusetts have?
Four: the state song, "All Hail to Massachusetts"; the folk song, "Massachusetts" by Arlo Guthrie; a patriotic song; and a glee club song. It also has an official ode and an official polka.
Photo credits (7)

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