Do you know Kansas's official state symbols?
Do you know Kansas's official state symbols?
Each state in America boasts its own culture, history, and natural beauty. To represent such diversity, people from these states have chosen their own set of symbols and customs. Specific flags, songs, mottos, flowers, and even fruits commemorate the uniqueness of individual states. Some of these symbols border on the bizarre: Texas, for example, has made the Dutch oven its official state cooking pot. Other symbols are more universal, like state birds.
Many people remember learning about their states' history back in elementary school. But can you still remember your state bird? How about your state flower? To test your state knowledge, Stacker compiled a list of symbols in Kansas.
Clue: Kansas state fish
Clue: Kansas went for years without an official state fish before legislation in 2018 put the state closer to adopting this widely popular fish that around 8 million fishermen go after every year.
Answer: Kansas state fish
Answer: Channel catfish
Clue: Kansas state mammal
This state's mammal is also the official national mammal of the United States. They once roamed the continent in herds numbering in the millions but by the 19th century had been hunted nearly to extinction.
Answer: Kansas state mammal
- State mammal: American bison
Clue: Kansas state song
The Kansas state song is one of the most famous cowboy songs ever written. It's sometimes called "the cowboy national anthem" or "the million-dollar song." The state also has two march songs, one written by noted marching band director Duff E. Middleton and another that was adopted much later.
Answer: Kansas state song
- Answer:
--- State song: "Home on the Range"
--- Marches: "The Kansas March," "Here's Kansas"
Clue: Kansas state insect
Uniquely, this species lives in colonies that remain the same for years on end, displaying particularly well-developed social organization. Many members of the colonies produce wax that they then use to build, clean, and guard their habitat.
Answer: Kansas state insect
- State insect: European honey bee (Apis mellifera)
Clue: Kansas state tree
With enough rain and decent soil conditions, Kansas’ state tree can grow as much as eight feet in a single year. This fast growth speed, combined with the tree’s lightweight wood, made it a favorite building material for the state’s early settlers; in fact, when the Kansas state legislature designated this tree in 1937, they called it the “pioneer tree of the prairie.”
Answer: Kansas state tree
Answer: Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides)
Clue: Kansas state bird
You’ll spot this melodious songbird throughout the wide open plains of the American Midwest. Its diet consists mostly of seeds and bugs, which the bird finds by rooting in the ground with its bill.
Answer: Kansas state bird
Answer: Western Meadowlark
Clue: Kansas state flower
Less than a decade before Kansas declared this to be its official state flower, lawmakers unsuccessfully called to eradicate this “noxious weed.” In turning it into the state's flower in 1903, lawmakers credited it for representing the state's “frontier days, winding trails, pathless prairies,” and the state's past and present. With numerous practical uses, this flower is more than its aesthetic beauty.
