Arkansas’s state symbols: Do you know them all?

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Arkansas has more than two dozen official state symbols but do you know all of them?

Many of the symbols are familiar to Arkansans such as the diamond as the state’s official gem and the state’s official grain is rice. But, did you know Arkansas had an official state dinosaur or soil?

Arkansas was not always ‘the Natural State’, here were the state’s other nicknames

Here are the official state symbols for Arkansas, when they were given the title and who was Governor at the time it became the official symbol, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas:

• State Anthem: “Arkansas” by Eva Ware Bennett, 1987, Gov. Bill Clinton

• State Beverage: Milk, 1985, Gov. Bill Clinton

• State Bird: Mockingbird, 1929, Gov. Harvey Parnell

• State Butterfly: Diana Fritillary, 2007, Gov. Mike Beebe

• State Dinosaur: Arkansaurus fridayi, 2017, Gov. Asa Hutchinson

• State Flower: Apple Blossom, 1901, Gov. Jeff Davis

• State Folk Dance: Square Dance, 1991, Gov. Bill Clinton

• State Fruit and Vegetable: South Arkansas Vine Ripe Tomato, 1987, Gov. Bill Clinton

• State Gem: Diamond, 1967, Gov Winthrop Rockefeller

• State Grain: Rice, 2007, Gov. Mike Beebe

• State Grape: Cynthiana, 2009, Gov. Mike Beebe

• State Historic Cooking Vessel: Dutch Oven, 2001, Gov, Mike Huckabee

• State Historical Song: “The Arkansas Traveler” by Sanford Faulkner, 1987, Gov. Bill Clinton

• State Insect: Honeybee, 1973, Gov. Dale Bumpers

• State Mammal: White-tailed Deer, 1993, Gov. Jim Guy Tucker

• State Mineral: Quartz, 1967, Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller

• State Motto: “Regnat Populus” (The People Rule), 1907, Gov. Xenophon Pindall

• State Musical Instrument: Fiddle, 1985, Gov. Bill Clinton

• State Nickname: The Natural State, 1995, Gov. Jim Guy Tucker

• State Nut: Pecan, 2009, Gov. Mike Beebe

• State Rock: Bauxite, 1967, Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller

• State Soil: Stuttgart Soil Series, 1997, Gov. Mike Huckabee

• State Songs: “Arkansas (You Run Deep in Me)” by Wayland Holyfield and “Oh, Arkansas” by Terry Rose and Gary Klass, 1987, Gov. Bill Clinton

• State Tree: Pine, 1939, Gov. Carl E. Bailey

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