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Missouri state symbols

Missouri has 54 official state symbols, all written into Chapter 10 of the Missouri statutes. The oldest, the state seal and motto, date from 1822. Thirteen were added in 2025 and 2026 alone, many of them official titles for towns, from the barbecue capital of Kansas City to the cowbell capital of Belle.

54 official designations · every law checked October 23, 2026

The early symbols

For most of its first century, Missouri had just two emblems: the Great Seal and its motto, Salus populi suprema lex esto, both adopted in 1822. The flag followed in 1913, after a long campaign by Marie Oliver of Cape Girardeau. The hawthorn became the state flower in 1923, the eastern bluebird the state bird in 1927, the “Missouri Waltz” the state song in 1949 and the flowering dogwood the state tree in 1955. In 1967 the Legislature added two stones: galena, the main ore of lead, whose mines drew many early settlers, and mozarkite, named as the state’s lithologic emblem.

Chosen by students

Many of Missouri’s later symbols began in a classroom. Students from Lee’s Summit carried the crinoid, a fossil sea animal, through the Legislature in 1989. An elementary class in Reeds Spring nominated the crayfish as state invertebrate, and fourth graders at Truman Elementary School in Rolla campaigned for big bluestem, the tall prairie grass, both adopted in 2007. Students at Pershing Elementary School in St. Joseph proposed jumping jacks as the state exercise, adopted in 2014, in honor of General John J. Pershing, who was born in Missouri and used the drill with West Point cadets.

Animals of the Show-Me State

The Missouri mule, the state animal since 1995, honors the animals that pulled wagons and plows and hauled supplies in both world wars, in a state that was long the country’s leading mule producer. The Missouri Fox Trotting Horse, a breed developed in the Ozarks in the 1800s, became the state horse in 2002. Missouri’s rivers supply the channel catfish and the paddlefish, both named in 1997, and the hellbender, a giant salamander adopted as the state endangered species in 2019; the statute even lists its folk names, snot otter and lasagna lizard. The American bullfrog, the largest frog native to Missouri, lives in every county.

Two dogs have their own titles. Old Drum, a hunting hound shot in 1869, became famous when his owner’s lawsuit produced George Graham Vest’s speech known as the Eulogy of the Dog; a statue at the Johnson County Courthouse in Warrensburg honors both. Jim the Wonder Dog, a setter born in 1925 who seemed to understand complex commands, is buried in Marshall.

Food, history and sport

Missouri leads the country in black walnut production, and the eastern black walnut became the state tree nut in 1990. The Norton grape, prized by Missouri winemakers, followed in 2003, the ice cream cone in 2008 and the pawpaw, a native fruit tree, in 2019. Other symbols honor Missouri history: the Gateway Arch, the 630-foot monument built in St. Louis from 1963 to 1965; the Hawken rifle, made by the Hawken brothers for western fur traders; and archery, named the state sport in 2022 in honor of Missourian Holless Wilbur Allen, who invented the compound bow. The St. Louis Blues became the state hockey team in 2019, the year they won their first Stanley Cup.

A rush of titles

The list has grown quickly in recent years. Laws in 2025 and 2026 named the apple capital (Waverly), the live entertainment capital (Branson), the rib city (Dexter), the cowbell capital (Belle), the barbecue capital (Kansas City) and an official rock radio station, KSHE 95, among others. Piedmont and Wayne County became UFO capitals in 2023, after hundreds of reported sightings there in 1973. The 2026 law also added a state mushroom, the smooth chanterelle, after proposals going back to 1998, and named the St. Louis Battlehawks the official professional football team, but only if the Kansas City Chiefs ever leave the state.

2 1820s 1850s 1880s 1 1910s 2 1 1940s 1 2 1970s 3 5 10 2000s 8 19 2020s
Official symbols adopted per decade. The busiest decade was the 2020s, with 19.

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 Missouri's symbols

What is the Missouri state bird?
The eastern bluebird, adopted in 1927. Missouri also has a state game bird, the northern bobwhite.
What is the Missouri state flower?
The hawthorn blossom, adopted in 1923. The law names the hawthorn in general, and about 75 species grow in Missouri.
What is Missouri's state dinosaur?
Parrosaurus missouriensis, known from the only dinosaur site found in Missouri, discovered in 1942 near Glen Allen while a family was digging a well.
Why is the ice cream cone Missouri's state dessert?
It honors the ice cream cones sold at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. It became the state dessert in 2008.
Does Missouri have a state dog?
It has two historical dogs, both named in 2017. Old Drum was a hunting hound whose death in 1869 led to the famous "Eulogy of the Dog," and Jim the Wonder Dog was a setter famed for apparently understanding complex commands.
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