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Oklahoma state symbols

Oklahoma has 58 official state symbols, one of the longest lists of any state. The oldest is mistletoe, the floral emblem of Oklahoma Territory since 1893; among the newest are the soybean, named in 2024 at the suggestion of students, and wheat, the state crop from November 2026. Many were adopted by resolution rather than by statute, and Oklahoma has state songs for nearly every genre.

58 official designations · every law checked October 23, 2026

Flowers and trees

Oklahoma’s floral symbols span more than a century. Mistletoe was named the floral emblem of Oklahoma Territory in 1893, making it the state’s oldest symbol. The redbud, with its small dark-pink spring flowers, is the state tree. The Indian blanket, a red-and-yellow wildflower also called firewheel, became the state wildflower in 1986, and Indian grass, a native perennial found in every county, the state grass in 1972. In 2004, after a campaign of more than 30 years by Dottie Weissenberger, the Oklahoma Rose, a red hybrid tea bred in 1964, became the state flower.

Birds and beasts

The scissor-tailed flycatcher has been the state bird since 1951. The wild turkey is the state game bird and, since 2018, the red-tailed hawk the state raptor, an idea from a ten-year-old from Oklahoma City. The American bison, honored in a 1972 resolution for its place on the grasslands and in the culture and ceremonies of Oklahoma’s tribes, is the state animal, and the Mexican free-tailed bat, which roosts in caves near Freedom, the state flying mammal. The raccoon is the state furbearer and the white-tailed deer the state game animal.

Horses have two titles. The American Quarter Horse became the state horse in 2022, and the Oklahoma Colonial Spanish Horse, descended from horses brought by early Spanish settlers and preserved by Bryant and Darlene Rickman since 1980, is the state heritage horse. Since 2021, under “Cali’s Law,” any animal adopted from a licensed shelter or rescue group is the state pet. The collared lizard, or mountain boomer, is the state reptile, the American bullfrog the state amphibian, the white bass the state fish and the black swallowtail the state butterfly.

From the ground

Oklahoma’s rose rock, named the state rock in 1968, is a reddish, petal-shaped cluster of barite and sand that forms in only a few places in the world. Hourglass selenite, a gypsum crystal from the Great Salt Plains, became the state crystal in 2005 at the suggestion of students in Moore, and Port silt loam, found in more Oklahoma counties than any other soil, is the state soil. Two big predatory dinosaurs are state symbols: Saurophaganax, the state fossil since 2000, which the law says is known only from Oklahoma (a 2024 study argues the fossils belong to a new species of Allosaurus), and Acrocanthosaurus, the state dinosaur since 2006, named for Atoka County, where partial skeletons were found. The Rosette Nebula became the state astronomical object in 2019.

The state meal and more

Oklahoma eats well by law. The 1988 state meal includes chicken-fried steak, barbecued pork, fried okra, squash, cornbread, grits, corn, sausage with biscuits and gravy, black-eyed peas, strawberries and pecan pie. The ribeye became the state steak in 2019, when Oklahoma ranked third in the nation in beef cattle. Fifth graders in Skiatook chose the strawberry as state fruit in 2005, and in 2007 the watermelon, botanically a fruit, was named the state vegetable. Milk is the state beverage, cotton the state fiber and the soybean the state legume, and from November 1, 2026, wheat will be the state crop.

Songs for every taste

Besides “Oklahoma!”, the state song, Oklahoma has official songs in many genres: Woody and Jack Guthrie’s “Oklahoma Hills” as folk song, Bob and John Wills’s “Faded Love” as country and western song, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” credited to the Choctaw freedman Wallis Willis, as gospel song, MercyMe’s “I Can Only Imagine” as inspirational song, and the Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize??” as rock song. There is also a state waltz, a children’s song, a land run song and a state western band. The fiddle and the drum are state instruments, and the square dance is the state folk dance.

Oil, theater and a cartoon

The Golden Driller, a 76-foot statue of an oil worker in front of the Tulsa Expo Center, became the state monument in 1979. Two theater companies hold official titles, the Lynn Riggs Players and the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. Oklahoma even has an official cartoon character: GUSTY, drawn by the television meteorologist Don Woods during his weather forecasts, named in 2005.

2 1890s 1 1 1910s 1 1 1930s 2 1950s 3 4 1970s 8 7 1990s 13 6 2010s 6 2020s
Official symbols adopted per decade. The busiest decade was the 2000s, with 13.

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Questions about Oklahoma's symbols

What is the Oklahoma state flower?
The Oklahoma Rose, a dark red hybrid tea rose, adopted in 2004. Mistletoe has been the state floral emblem since 1893, and the Indian blanket is the state wildflower.
What is the Oklahoma state bird?
The scissor-tailed flycatcher, adopted in 1951. Oklahoma also has a state game bird, the wild turkey, and a state raptor, the red-tailed hawk.
What is the Oklahoma state meal?
A spread adopted in 1988 of chicken-fried steak, barbecued pork, fried okra, squash, cornbread, grits, corn, sausage with biscuits and gravy, black-eyed peas, strawberries and pecan pie.
What is a rose rock?
The state rock: a reddish, petal-shaped cluster of barite and sand that forms in only a few places in the world.
What is the Oklahoma state rock song?
'"Do You Realize??" by The Flaming Lips, a band from Oklahoma City, named in 2009.'
Photo credits (13)

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