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Wisconsin state symbols

Wisconsin has 29 official state symbols, most of them listed in section 1.10 of the Wisconsin Statutes, which also requires the state's Blue Book to print them. The oldest are the motto "Forward," from 1851, and the coat of arms of 1881; the newest are cheese and ginseng, both named in 2017. Schoolchildren voted for the first natural symbols decades before the Legislature made them official.

29 official designations · every law checked October 23, 2026

Chosen by schoolchildren

Wisconsin’s children picked its first natural symbols. In an 1893 vote they chose the maple over the oak, the pine and the elm. In 1908 they narrowed the flower candidates to four, the violet, wild rose, trailing arbutus and white water lily, and the violet won a final vote on Arbor Day 1909. In 1926 and 1927 the robin drew twice as many votes as any other bird. A 1948 student vote put the sugar maple first again, and in 1949 the Legislature made all three official.

Badgers, deer and muskies

Legislators had tried to name the muskellunge the state fish as early as 1939, and the 1955 bill passed both houses unanimously. In 1957 four Jefferson County elementary pupils asked for a bill to make the badger the state animal, after learning that it had never been made official. Lawmakers from northern counties countered with a bill for the white-tailed deer, and the Legislature settled the dispute by naming both: the badger as the state animal and the deer as the state wildlife animal. The dairy cow became the state domestic animal in 1972, with the honor rotated among the state’s purebred breeds.

Stones, soil and a fossil

In 1971 the Legislature named galena, the lead ore, the state mineral and red granite, quarried in several parts of the state, the state rock. The same year it made the mourning dove the state symbol of peace and took it off the list of game birds, though a rising population led the state to reopen dove hunting in 2001. Antigo silt loam, a level, silty soil of north-central Wisconsin that supports dairy farming, potatoes and timber, became the state soil in 1983, after a campaign led by the UW-Madison soil scientist Francis D. Hole. The trilobite Calymene celebra, a sea creature from the shallow seas that once covered Wisconsin, became the state fossil in 1986.

A bee, a dog and a dance

A third-grade class in Marinette and the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association won the honey bee its title as state insect in 1978; the losing candidates included the monarch, the dragonfly, the ladybug and even the mosquito. Eighth graders in New London worked for years to make the American water spaniel, said to be the only breed native to Wisconsin, the state dog in 1986. A second-grade class in Madison asked for the polka, the state dance since 1994.

Dairy and the table

Milk became the state beverage in 1988, when Wisconsin was the leading milk-producing state, and corn the state grain in 1990. Fifth graders in Kenosha County chose the cranberry over the cherry as state fruit in 2004; Wisconsin leads the nation in cranberry production. The kringle became the state pastry through a line in the 2013 state budget, and in 2017 the Legislature named cheese the state dairy product and ginseng the state herb.

1 1850s 1 1870s 2 1890s 1910s 1930s 3 4 1950s 5 1970s 4 2 1990s 4 3 2010s
Official symbols adopted per decade. The busiest decade was the 1970s, 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 Wisconsin's symbols

What is the Wisconsin state animal?
The badger, adopted in 1957. The same year the white-tailed deer was named the state wildlife animal, to settle a dispute between badger fans and deer advocates.
What is the Wisconsin state bird?
The American robin, chosen by schoolchildren in 1926-27 and adopted in 1949.
What is the Wisconsin state fish?
The muskellunge, or muskie, adopted unanimously in 1955.
What is the Wisconsin state dance?
The polka, adopted in 1994 after a second-grade class in Madison asked for it.
Does Wisconsin have a state pastry?
Yes, the kringle, named in the 2013 state budget act.
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