State Symbols, Seals And Emblems

Official Virginia Symbols:

The official state seal of Virginia is represented on the Virginia flag.

The Virginia state bird is the cardinal.

The Virginia state flower is a dogwood.

Per § 1-510, the following are hereby designated official emblems and designations of the Commonwealth:

Artisan Center  - Artisans Center of Virginia, located in the City of Staunton.

Bat - Virginia Big-eared bat (Corynorhinos townsendii virginianus)

Beverage - Milk

Bird - Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Blue Ridge Folklore State Center -Blue Ridge Institute located in the village of Ferrum

Boat - "Chesapeake Bay Deadrise"

Cabin Capital of Virginia - Page County

Coal Miners' Memorial - The Richlands Coal Miners' Memorial located in Tazewell County

Covered Bridge Capital of the Commonwealth - Patrick County

Covered Bridge Festival -Virginia Covered Bridge Festival held in Patrick County

Dog - American Foxhound

Emergency medical services museum - "To The Rescue," located in the City of Roanoke

First Food - Virginia oyster (Crassostrea virginica)

Fish (Freshwater) - Brook Trout

Fish (Saltwater) - Striped Bass

Flag of Remembrance of September 11, 2001 - Freedom Flag, designed by a Virginian, as the flag of remembrance of September 11, 2001.

Fleet - Replicas of the three ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, which comprised the Commonwealth's founding fleet that brought the first permanent English settlers to Jamestown in 1607, and which are exhibited at the Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg.

Flower - American Dogwood (Cornus florida)

Folk dance - Square dancing, the American folk dance that traces its ancestry to the English Country Dance and the French Ballroom Dance, and is called, cued, or prompted to the dancers, and includes squares, rounds, clogging, contra, line, the Virginia Reel, and heritage dances.

Fossil - Chesapecten jeffersonius

Gold mining interpretive center -Monroe Park, located in the County of Fauquier

Insect - Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucus Linne)

Maple Festival - The Highland County Maple Festival

Motor sports museum - Wood Brothers Racing Museum and Virginia Motor Sports Hall of Fame, located in Patrick County

Outdoor drama -The Trail of the Lonesome Pine Outdoor Drama, adapted for the stage by Clara Lou Kelly and performed in the Town of Big Stone Gap

Outdoor drama, historical - "The Long Way Home" based on the life of Mary Draper Ingles, adapted for the stage by Earl Hobson Smith, and performed in the City of Radford

Rock - Nelsonite.

Salamander - Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber)

Shell - Oyster shell (Crassostrea virginica)

Snake - Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)

Song emeritus - "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia," by James A. Bland, as set out in the House Joint Resolution 10, adopted by the General Assembly of Virginia at the Session of 1940

Song (Popular) - "Sweet Virginia Breeze," by Robbin Thompson and Steve Bassett.

Song (Traditional) - "Our Great Virginia," lyrics by Mike Greenly and arranged by Jim Papoulis with music from the original American folk song "Oh Shenandoah."

Spirit - George Washington's rye whiskey produced at Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Sports hall of fame -Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, located in the City of Portsmouth

Television series - "Song of the Mountains."

Tree - American Dogwood (Cornus florida).

War memorial museum - Virginia War Museum, (formerly known as the War Memorial Museum of Virginia), located in the City of Newport News

Seal - The great seal of Virginia is circular. In the center is a figure of Virtus, the goddess of virtue, dressed as a warrior. She holds a spear in her right hand, with its point held downward touching the earth. In her left hand is a sheathed sword pointing upward. Her left foot rests on the chest of the figure of tyrany, who is lying on the ground. Above the figure is the word "Virginia," and under the figures is the state motto "Sic Semper Tyrannis" or "Thus Always to Tyrants." The seal, designed by George Wythe, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was first adopted in 1776 and modified in 1930.