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Tennessee state symbols

Tennessee has 88 official state symbols, more than any other state. Some are classic emblems, like the 1905 flag and the mockingbird; many more have been added since 2000, including 16 state songs, two state wildflowers, three state foods and ten official state books. Some were adopted by statute and others by joint resolution, and new ones arrive almost every session.

88 official designations · every law checked October 23, 2026

Flag, bird and flowers

Tennessee’s best-known emblems are among its oldest. The tri-star flag dates from 1905. In 1933 the Tennessee Ornithological Society held an election in which the mockingbird was picked, and the Legislature confirmed it as the state bird. The tulip poplar became the state tree in 1947, because it grows statewide and pioneers relied on its wood for houses, barns and other farm buildings.

The flower took longer to sort out. Schoolchildren chose the passion flower in a vote held under a 1919 resolution; a 1933 resolution named the iris without repealing that choice, leaving Tennessee with two state flowers until 1973, when a law made the iris the state cultivated flower and the passion flower the state wildflower. The passion flower’s Cherokee name, ocoee, was also given to the Ocoee River. In 2012 the Tennessee coneflower, which grows only in the limestone cedar glades of Middle Tennessee and was believed extinct until it was found again in the late 1960s, became a second state wildflower, and the eastern red cedar the state evergreen.

Wildlife

The raccoon became the state wild animal in 1971. In 1975 the Legislature named two state insects, the firefly and the ladybug, and in 1990 the honeybee the state agricultural insect. The bobwhite quail, which lays an unusually large clutch of ten to twenty eggs, is the state game bird. In 1995 the zebra swallowtail became the state butterfly, the eastern box turtle the state reptile and the Tennessee cave salamander, a large salamander that keeps its red external gills as an adult and lives in limestone caves, the state amphibian. The smallmouth bass replaced the largemouth as state sport fish in 2005; the world-record smallmouth, 11 pounds 15 ounces, came out of Dale Hollow Lake in 1955.

Horses, dogs and pets

The Tennessee Walking Horse, known for its natural, inherited gaits, became the state horse in 2000, and the bluetick coonhound, which early settlers used for hunting and protection, the state dog in 2019. Since 2014 dogs and cats adopted from Tennessee shelters and rescues have been the state pets.

Stones and fossils

Limestone is the state rock; Tennessee marble, a form of limestone, was used to build the Capitol. The Tennessee river pearl, taken from many of the state’s rivers between 1882 and 1914, became the state gem in 1979. Agate, first called the state rock in 1969, was reclassified as the state mineral in 2009. The state fossil is Pterotrigonia thoracica, an extinct clam from the Cretaceous period abundant in the Coon Creek Formation of West Tennessee. And “Sandy,” a Mississippian-period stone figure of a kneeling man found in 1939 in Wilson County, is the state artifact.

Food and drink

Tennessee’s newest food symbols are local favorites: hot slaw, named in 2024, with Cleveland as the state’s hot slaw capital, and Memphis barbecue and Nashville hot chicken, combined with it in a single law in 2025. The tomato is the state fruit and milk the state beverage, and cast iron cookware has been named the state’s frontier cookware.

Words, music and art

Tennessee’s cultural symbols fill pages. Besides its 16 state songs and a holiday song, the state has three official poems, among them “Oh Tennessee, My Tennessee,” written by the Navy officer William Lawrence while held in solitary confinement as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Songwriting is the state art form, porcelain painting the state fine art and the square dance the state folk dance. In 2024 the Legislature named ten official state books, including Alex Haley’s Roots, Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men and Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors. The Memphis Belle, among the first US heavy bombers of World War II to complete 25 missions without losing a crew member, is the state aircraft, and the Barrett M82 rifle, designed by a Tennessean, the state rifle.

1 1900s 1 1920s 2 1 1940s 1 2 1960s 9 7 1980s 11 11 2000s 18 20 2020s
Official symbols adopted per decade. The busiest decade was the 2020s, with 20.

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 Tennessee's symbols

What is the Tennessee state bird?
The northern mockingbird, chosen in a 1933 election held by the Tennessee Ornithological Society. The bobwhite quail is the state game bird.
What is the Tennessee state flower?
The iris is the state cultivated flower. Tennessee also has two state wildflowers, the passion flower and the Tennessee coneflower.
How many state songs does Tennessee have?
Sixteen are listed in state law, including "Rocky Top," "The Tennessee Waltz" and "Copperhead Road." There is also an official holiday song.
What are Tennessee's official state foods?
Hot slaw, Memphis barbecue and Nashville hot chicken. Milk is the state beverage and the tomato the state fruit.
What is the Tennessee state animal?
The raccoon, named the state wild animal in 1971. The state also has a state horse, the Tennessee Walking Horse, and a state dog, the bluetick coonhound.
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