List of West Virginia state symbols

The following is a list of symbols of the U.S. state of West Virginia.

Insignia

Type	Symbol	Year	Image
Coat of arms	The Coat of Arms of West Virginia	1863^[1]
Flag	The flag of West Virginia consists of the coat of arms, wreathed below in rhododendron and bannered with "State of West Virginia" above, on a white field bound in blue	1929^[1]
Motto	Montani Semper Liberi (Mountaineers [are] Always Free)	1863,^[1]^[2] 1872^[3]	—
Seal	The Great Seal of the State of West Virginia	1863^[1]^[2]

Type	Symbol	Year
Animal	Black bear	1954,^[1] 1973^[3]
Bird	Cardinal	1949^[1]
Butterfly	Monarch butterfly	1995^[3]
Fish	Brook trout	1973^[1]
Flower	Rhododendron	1903^[1]
Fruit	Apple	1972^[3]
Fruit	Golden Delicious apple	1995^[3]
Insect	Honey bee	2002^[3]
Reptile	Timber rattlesnake	2008^[4]
Tree	Sugar maple	1949^[1]^[3]

Type	Symbol	Year
Fossil	Jefferson's ground sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii)	2008^[4]
Gem	Silicified Mississippian Lithostrotionella coral	1990^[3]
Rock	Bituminous coal	2009^[5]
Soil	Monongahela	1997^[3]^[6]

Type	Symbol	Year	Image
Colors	Old gold and blue	1963^[1]
Official holiday	West Virginia Day – June 20	1927^[3]	—
Official songs	"Take Me Home, Country Roads", "The West Virginia Hills," "West Virginia, My Home Sweet Home" and "This Is My West Virginia"	1971, 1963, 2014^[7]
Steam Locomotive	Cass Scenic Railroad #5	2004^[8]
Tartan	West Virginia Shawl (adaptation)	2008^[9]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "State Symbols". West Virginia's State Treasurer's Office. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Wrap-up: The Newsletter of the West Virginia Legislature" (PDF). XVIII (7). West Virginia Legislature. February 28, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2012. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "State Symbols". West Virginia Legislature. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 28". West Virginia Legislature. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
^ Ward, Ken (June 3, 2009). "Coal: West Virginia's official rock". The Charleston Gazette. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
^ "Monongahela -- West Virginia State Soil" (PDF). US Department of Agriculture. Retrieved July 18, 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ [1] Archived March 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
^ "https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/2016/BlueBook/1043_WVS_BlueBook.pdf" (PDF). wvlegislature. Retrieved 18 December 2024. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
^ "House Concurrent Resolution No. 29 (2008)". West Virginia Legislature. Retrieved July 18, 2012.