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New Mexico state symbols

New Mexico has 38 official state symbols, from the 1917 state song to the aroma of green chile roasting, added in 2023. Many reflect the state's mix of cultures: it has songs in English and Spanish and a bilingual one, flag salutes in both languages, and food symbols from chile to the bizcochito. It even has an official state question and answer.

38 official designations · every law checked October 23, 2026

Yucca, roadrunner and piñon

New Mexico’s first symbols came in the 1920s and 1940s. Schoolchildren chose the yucca in a statewide survey, the New Mexico Federation of Women’s Clubs backed it, and the Legislature adopted it as the state flower in 1927. In 1949 the Legislature named the roadrunner, which the law calls the “chaparral bird,” as state bird and the piñon pine, chosen by the Federation of Women’s Clubs, as state tree. The Rio Grande cutthroat trout followed in 1955 and the black bear in 1963.

From the kitchen

Food is at the heart of the list. Chile and the pinto bean became the state vegetables together in 1965, after legislators argued that the two could not be separated; the pinto bean has been a Pueblo staple, with corn and squash, since prehistoric times. The bizcochito, an anise cookie brought by early Spanish settlers and baked for weddings, baptisms and Christmas, became the state cookie in 1989; New Mexico was the first state with an official cookie.

Then came the questions. A 1996 memorial declared “Red or green?”, the choice of red or green chile servers ask about, the state question, and a 1999 law put it in the statutes. In 2007 the Legislature added an official answer, “Red and green or Christmas.” And in 2023 Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a bill making the aroma of green chile roasting the state aroma, a first for any state.

Turquoise, silver and bolo ties

Native peoples mined and worked turquoise in the region for centuries before the Spanish arrived, and it became the state gem in 1967. The bolo tie, already named the state’s neckwear by a non-binding measure in 1987, became the official state tie in 2007. In 2011 the Native American squash blossom necklace joined the list; Navajo silversmiths first combined its crescent-shaped naja pendant with blossom-like silver beads, and Zuni artists later added turquoise inlay.

Fossils and wildlife

The state fossil, adopted in 1981, is Coelophysis, a dinosaur known from a mass burial of skeletons found at Ghost Ranch in Rio Arriba County in 1947. In 1989 an elementary class in Edgewood led a statewide student vote that made the tarantula hawk wasp the state insect. A 2003 law added three more animals: the Sandia hairstreak butterfly, first described from a specimen taken in the Sandia Mountains; the New Mexico whiptail lizard; and the New Mexico spadefoot toad, which waits underground for monsoon rains and smells like roasted peanuts when handled. Blue grama, which grows in all 33 counties, is the state grass.

Balloons and trains

The hot air balloon became the state aircraft in 2005. The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta began in 1972 as a gathering of 13 balloons in a shopping center parking lot, and Albuquerque also has an official state balloon museum. The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, a narrow-gauge line built in the 1880s that runs 64 miles between Chama and Antonito, Colorado, became the state’s historic railroad the same year. A 2016 House memorial recognized Santa Fe No. 2926, a 1944 steam locomotive, though it is not in the statutes.

Songs, salutes and a guitar

New Mexico has five official songs: “O Fair New Mexico,” the state song since 1917; “Así Es Nuevo México” by Amadeo Lucero, which Lieutenant Governor Roberto Mondragón sang to the 1971 Legislature with a guitar; “Land of Enchantment,” a ballad by Michael Martin Murphey, Chick Raines and Don Cook; the bilingual “New Mexico – Mi Lindo Nuevo México” by Pablo Mares; and the cowboy song “Under New Mexico Skies” by Syd Masters. There is also a Spanish-language state poem, Luis Tafoya’s “A Nuevo México,” written on the eve of statehood in 1911. In 2009 the Legislature even named an official state guitar: the New Mexico Sunrise, a single custom instrument with Zia sun inlays of coral and mother-of-pearl. The state slogan, adopted in 1975, is “Everybody is somebody in New Mexico.”

1 1880s 1900s 2 2 1920s 2 1940s 1 5 1960s 4 4 1980s 5 9 2000s 2 1 2020s
Official symbols adopted per decade. The busiest decade was the 2000s, with nine.

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 New Mexico's symbols

What is the New Mexico state bird?
The greater roadrunner, which the 1949 law calls the "chaparral bird."
What is the New Mexico state flower?
The yucca flower, adopted in 1927 after a survey of schoolchildren. The law names no particular species.
What is the state cookie of New Mexico?
The bizcochito, an anise-flavored cookie brought by early Spanish settlers. New Mexico, in 1989, was the first state to name an official cookie.
Does New Mexico have a state aroma?
Yes, the aroma of green chile roasting, adopted in 2023. The secretary of state says New Mexico is the first state with an official aroma.
What is the state question of New Mexico?
'"Red or green?", the question servers ask about chile. The official answer, added in 2007, is "Red and green or Christmas."'
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