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Rhode Island state symbols

Rhode Island has 26 official state symbols. The oldest is the anchor-and-Hope seal of 1664; the newest is the trilobite, named the state fossil in 2022. Many reflect life by the sea, from the quahog and calamari to the harbor seal, northern star coral and the state's official tall ship, while the state bird is a chicken and the state drink is coffee milk.

26 official designations · every law checked October 23, 2026

Anchor, flag and arms

Rhode Island’s emblems are old. The colonial legislature chose an anchor for the colony’s seal in 1647, and on May 4, 1664, the General Assembly adopted a seal with the anchor and the word “Hope.” The arms of the state, a golden anchor on a blue field with the motto, date from 1882, and the present white flag from 1897.

Chosen by children and voters

Rhode Island’s schoolchildren voted for a state flower and tree in the 1890s, but the Legislature took decades to follow. The red maple became the state tree in 1964, and the violet the state flower only in 1968; the state says Rhode Island was the last to adopt an official flower. The state bird came from a 1954 statewide election organized by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs and the Providence Journal Company, in which the Rhode Island Red, a chicken breed, beat the osprey and the ruby-throated hummingbird.

Stones

Two symbols adopted in 1966 come from Rhode Island’s rocks. Cumberlandite, the state rock, is a heavy, dark, magnetic rock with white markings, estimated at 1 to 1.5 billion years old, found south of the town of Cumberland on both sides of Narragansett Bay. Bowenite, the state mineral, is a close relative of jade, found in northern Rhode Island and first identified in the early 1800s by the geologist George Bowen.

From the sea

Many symbols come from Rhode Island’s waters. The quahog, a clam whose name comes from the Narragansett word poquauhock, became the state shell in 1987; Native people shaped its shells into wampum beads used as currency. The striped bass became the state fish in 2000, calamari the state appetizer in 2014, the harbor seal the state marine mammal in 2016 and the northern star coral the state coral in 2021. The 2022 state fossil is the trilobite, an ancient marine animal commonly found in Rhode Island.

The state also honors its ships. The Class A tall ship SSV Oliver Hazard Perry is both the state sailing education vessel and, since 2018, the state flagship, a title first given in 1993 to a replica of the Continental sloop Providence. The twelve-meter yacht Courageous, which successfully defended the America’s Cup in 1974 and 1977, is the state yacht, recalling the decades when the Cup was raced off Newport.

Coffee milk and greenings

Rhode Island’s food symbols are local favorites. The Rhode Island Greening apple, developed in the state in the 18th century and prized for keeping its tart flavor when cooked, became the state fruit in 1991. Coffee milk, milk sweetened with coffee syrup, a drink the state dates to the early 1920s, became the state drink in 1993; blended with ice cream it becomes a coffee cabinet, a name the state credits to an originator who kept his blender in a kitchen cabinet.

The Charles I.D. Looff Carousel in East Providence, built in 1895 with 56 hand-carved jumping horses, chariots, a camel and a Wurlitzer band organ, is the official state folk art. It is the surviving piece of the Crescent Park amusement park, replaced by housing in the 1970s. The American burying beetle became the state insect in 2015; it was federally listed as endangered in 1989 and reclassified as threatened in 2020. A state tartan, created and registered by the St. Andrews Society of Rhode Island, became official in 2000.

2 1660s 1710s 1760s 1810s 1860s 1 1 1910s 1 4 1960s 1 2 4 3 5 2010s 2 2020s
Official symbols adopted per decade. The busiest decade was the 2010s, with five.

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

Questions about Rhode Island's symbols

What is the Rhode Island state bird?
The Rhode Island Red, a breed of chicken, adopted in 1954 after a public vote.
What is the Rhode Island state drink?
Coffee milk, milk sweetened with coffee syrup, adopted in 1993. Blended with ice cream it becomes a coffee cabinet.
What is a quahog?
A clam, and Rhode Island's state shell, adopted in 1987. The name comes from the Narragansett word poquauhock, and Native people made wampum beads from the shells.
Does Rhode Island have a state appetizer?
Yes, calamari, adopted in 2014. The state says it has the largest squid-fishing fleet on the East Coast.
What is the Rhode Island state rock?
Cumberlandite, a heavy, dark, magnetic rock with white markings, estimated at 1 to 1.5 billion years old.
Photo credits (7)

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