Almost everyone knows that each state of the Union has its own flag . State flags , however , are just the most visible component of an elaborate , esoteric system of legalized symbols that characterise and codify our united states . For example , " Do You Realize ? ? " by the Flaming Lips was just refer the official Oklahoma State Rock Song . It ’s sentence we were all expose to the bizarre symbology of state identity - politics .
A Lesser-Known Tale of Badgers and Suckers
To start with , some of the most well - known DoS symbols allude to lesser - known import and histories . I grew up in Wisconsin and only lately learned that the Badger State claim originally refers not to Bucky , nor to the savage beast itself , but to result miners in the 1820s and 30s . These mineworker moved from outlook to prospect in southwestern Wisconsin , traveling light and often , with little money for lavishness . When wintertime came and condition worsened , those miners too far from dwelling house to migrate would dig themselves shelter caves in the hills – like badgers . These irregular dwellings could be abandon if a scene proved fruitless , without much sorrow ; and if the lead pick were good , the favourable mineworker could tease up his badger hole or upgrade to a more traditional Euro - American residency . For this practice Wisconsin mineworker were knight " badgers" – a jibe that was shortly appropriated as a lofty , statewide soubriquet . Bucky did n’t come along until 1949 ; the furry , quadruped badger , notoriously vicious when corner , was n’t declared Wisconsin ’s state animal until 1957 .
Other miners transmigrate south for the wintertime to the far end of Illinois , much like the region ’s sucker Pisces ; which earn them the nickname of Suckers , and their state of Illinois its awkward cognomen , The Sucker State .
The Rebel Woodpecker
How entertaining and instructive . But the real playfulness starts when these state symbols more shamelessly approach the ridiculous . Let us regard some of the hunky-dory specimens :
Eat and Drink to the Honor of the State
The Silly, Sentimental, and Insulting Songs that Define Us
ordinarily they ’re just hilarious , but a few of these songs bear some heinously outdated lyric . With a nod to the old Eternal Feminine , North Carolina praise its woman as Queens of the Forest , " So graceful , so changeless , yet to gentlest breath trembling . “ The real trouble comes , though , with old minstrel air that limn humble " darkies" praising " old Massa" in song and romanticizing their cotton - picking servitude . Kentucky changed the speech for " My Old Kentucky Home" in 1986 to glaze over such indiscretion . But Virginia still seems to have trouble acknowledging its error , and simply demoted its birdsong , " Carry Me Back To Old Virginny,“ to the status of " state of matter song emeritus . “ Virginia still seeks an enough surrogate , rather one that does n’t idealize slavery – but , of track , those are hard to come by .
Every State For Itself
While many designation seem derisory , most purpose to represent some definite aspect of a state ’s intended " character . “ legislator require ikon that mean something , that give you a sense of the land and its people – something like the bolo tie beam . Arizona name the bolo tie its official neckwear back in 1971 . And more recently , in 2007 , New Mexico added the same to its leaning of emblems . obviously , it was an Arizona silverworker who devise the string - and - warp necktie when he adopt off his hatband to avoid fall behind the cherished buckle during a high - wind horse ride , and hung it around his neck . This find occurred as late as 1940 , but the bolo ’s become such an image that it ’s hard to imagine a Wild West without it .
