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Texas State Symbols

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State symbols have been designated since 1901, when the bluebonnet was chosen as the official flower of Texas by the 27th Legislature. 

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission is charged by statute to “prepare and make available to the public a complete list of every state symbol and place designation” (section 441.006(a)(9) of the Texas Government Code). TSLAC is also the publisher of the list of Official Capital Designations.

Amphibian

Texas Toad

A grey Texas toad, covered in warts, scowls at the camera while sitting on a flat stone surface.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Bird

Mockingbird

Northern mockingbird perched on a branch facing us with one eye trained on the camera.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Bison Herd

Texas State Bison Herd at
Caprock Canyons State Park

Mother bison nuzzles her calf while standing in a field of grass and brush.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Bluebonnet City

Ennis

Graphic logo of the City of Ennis, Texas.

 

Bluebonnet Festival

Chappell Hill Bluebonnet Festival

A field of bluebonnets with the sun setting on the horizon. The text 'Chappell Hill Bluebonnet Festival' superimposed over the image.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Bluebonnet Trail

Ennis Bluebonnet Trail

A Texas flag laying on a field of bluebonnets. The text 'Ennis Bluebonnet Trail' superimposed over the image.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Bread

Pan de Campo

Several rounds of dough resting on a baking sheet and cloth.
 Photo credit: PAleeex.up, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cobbler

Peach Cobbler

A white dish of peach cobbler.
Photo credit: Bigstock Photo

Cooking Implement

Cast Iron Dutch Oven

A chicken roasted golden brown with sprig of rosemary inside a black dutch oven.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Crustacean

Texas Gulf Shrimp

A pile of harvested coral-colored gulf shrimp.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Dinosaur

Paluxysaurus Jonesi

A drawing of the Paluxysaurus Jonesi dinosaur. The neck is twice as long as it's body and the long pointed tail about the same length as the body.
Photo credit: Levi bernardo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 

Dish

Chili con carne

Bowl of chili garnished with red pepper and served with lime wedges on the side.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Dog Breed

Blue Lacy

Blue Lacy hunting dog with short blue/grey hair, floppy ears and an eye trained on something in the distance.
Photo credit: TrueBlueLacys, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Domino Game

42

A set of white dominos, dot sides up.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Epic Poem

The Legend of Old Stone Ranch

Book containing the epic poem, Legend of Old Stone Ranch, sits on a stone surface.
Photo credit: M. Avila

Fiber and Fabric

Cotton

Two fully ripe cotton blooms sit on a gauzy grey fabric.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Fish

Guadalupe Bass

Technical drawing of a Guadalupe Bass fish on a light blue background.
Photo credit: Texas Parks and Wildlife

 

Flower

Bluebonnet, Lupinus Texensis and
any Other Variety of Bluebonnet

A field full of bluebonnets.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Flower Song

"Bluebonnets"

A close up of a bluebonnet flower with musical notes superimposed over the image.
Photo credit: Envato; The Noun Project; TSLAC

Folk Dance

Square Dance

A sepia-toned photo of six couples square dancing. The men are all wearing white  slacks and shirts and the women are all wearing matching dresses with full skirts and petticoats.
Photo credit: Lomax Collection, Library of Congress. LOT 7414-A,
no. N170

Footwear

Cowboy Boot

A pair of black polished cowboy boots sit on a white tiled floor with white gauze curtains in the back.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Fruit

Texas Red Grapefruit

Closeup of several perfect slices of red grapefruit are layered on each other.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Gem

Texas Blue Topaz

Two polished uncut blue topaz stones sit on a natural surface.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Gemstone Cut

Lone Star Cut

A ring with a gold band set with large blue gemstone that is cut to reveal a star within a star. Sitting on a black background.
Photo credit: Twitter@gjbpartners

 

Grass

Sideoats Grama

A portrait of one blade of sideoats grama grass highlights how the oats grow from the side.
Photo credit: Joseph A. Marcus, Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center

Handgun

1847 Colt Walker Pistol

1847 Colt Walker pistol with a wooden handle and brass trigger sits on a tan background.
Photo credit: Samuel Colt, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Hashtag

#Texas

Graphic display of the text '#Texas'.

Hashtag of Texas Tourism

#TexasToDo

Graphic display of the text '#TexasToDo'.

Hashtag of the
Texas Legislature

#txlege

Graphic display of the text '#txlege'.

Hat

Cowboy Hat

Brown leather cowboy hat with a braided band sits atop coiled lasso rope.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Health Nut

Pecan

The image frame is filled with shelled pecan halves.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Horse

American Quarter Horse

A close up of a chesnut quarter horse's face with soulful eyes and a white mark running down her nose.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Insect

Monarch Butterfly 

A monarch butterfly, wings fully open.
Photo credit: Kenneth Dwain Harrelson, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Knife

Bowie Knife

Big, long bladed bowie knife with a black handle sits on a tan background.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Longhorn Herd

Foundation Herd of the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department

Two longhorn cows sitting in a field of straw-colored grass fenced in by barbed wire.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Mammal, Flying

Mexican Free-Tailed Bat

A flying Mexican Free-Tailed bat is captured by the photographer using a flash that illuminates its body, wings, and face in front a pitch black background.
Photo credit: Bruce D. Taubert/Bat Conservation International

Mammal, Large

Longhorn

A brindled-colored longhorn cow, with amazingly long horns, rests in yellow wildflowers on the edge of a wooded area.
Photo credit: SS Holman

Mammal, Small

Armadillo

A nine-banded armadillo facing left on top of brown grass

Photo credit: Hans Stieglitz - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 via
Wikipedia Commons

Motto

"Friendship"

Graphic display of the text 'Friendship.'

 

Mushroom

Texas Star Mushroom

A brown mushroom with six long points sits in a field of grass.
Photo by Tim Jones, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Music

Western Swing 

Mr. Bias playing the fiddle in his trailer home in Weslaco, Texas, 1939.
Photo credit: Russell Lee/Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USF34-032101-D. 

 

Musical Instrument

Guitar

A polished wood acoustic guitar sits on a sofa.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Native Pepper

Chiltepin

An ripe, orange-colored, round chiltepin pepper is on the vine and in the sun alongside another still unripe pepper.
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Native Shrub

Texas Purple Sage
(Leucophyllum Frutescens)

One branch, in full bloom, of a Texas purple sage shrub is highlighted by the sun, with other blooming branches in the background.
Photo credit: SS Holman

Nickname

"The Lone Star State"

A full frame of a waving Texas flag.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Pastries

Strudel, Sopaipilla

Split image with a slice of strudel on the left and a pile of suggared sopaipillas on the right.
Photo credit: Strudel (left) Envato; Sopaipilla (right) Popo le Chien,
CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Pepper

Jalapeño

Many green jalapeno peppers sitt atop a black slate surface.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Pie

Pecan Pie

An uncut pecan pie topped with perfectly arranged pecans sits on a woodtone surface.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Plant

Prickly Pear Cactus

Close up of a prickly pear cactus is focused on a yellow ripening tuna with several still green tunas in the back.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Plays

The Lone Star; Texas;
Beyond the Sundown; Fandangle

An empty theatre with spotlights focused on its stage.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Pollinator

Western Honey Bee

A swarm of western honey bees.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Precious Metal

Silver

A professional photograph of many silver nuggets and a one ounce silver bar sitting on brown textured leaves.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

 

Rodeo Drill Team

Ghostriders

Graphic logo of the Ghostriders.

 

Saltwater Fish

Red Drum

Technical drawing of a red drum fish on a light grey background.
Noaa, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Shell

Lightning Whelk

The lightning whelk sea shell shown from three angles: top, bottom, and its rounded end.
Photo by H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons 

Shrub

Crape Myrtle

Closeup of a coral-red crape myrtle bloom in front of a blue sky and fluffy white clouds.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Snack

Tortilla Chips and Salsa

Bowl of fresh red salsa with crisp tortilla chips on the side.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Song

"Texas, Our Texas"

Arial view of a country road flanked by outbuildings including a barn that has the Texas flag painted on its roof. All surrounded by fields of crops. Musical notes and the text, ‘Texas Our Texas’ is superimposed over the image.
Photo credit: Envato, The Noun Project

Sport

Rodeo

Man in a cowboy hat and denim jacket watches the nighttime rodeo from a shoot on the edge of the field.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Squash

Pumpkin

One whole pumpkin sits next to another cut pumpkin from which a single slice is resting on a plate.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Stone

Petrified Palmwood

A portion of a whole petrified palm trunk laying on a table with a note that reads, "Palmoxylon spec. Bedecktsamer Palme Stamm Tertiar USA"
Photo by Daderot, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tall Ship

Elissa

View of the starboard side of the Elissa, sails down, as it sits next to a dock in the bay.
Photo credit: Galveston Historical Foundation

Tartan

Texas Bluebonnet

Woven plaid fabric in blue, teal, green with thin red and yellow lines.
Photo credit: The Scottish Register of Tartans

10K

Texas Round-Up 10K

Crowd of runners move down a city street and away from the camera.
Photo by Fanny Schertzer, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Tree

Pecan

Focus of this image is a small branch of a pecan tree that holds ripening pecans. Out of focus pecan tree and grove in the background.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Vegetable

Sweet Onion

Three sweet yellow onions just pulled and still sitting on the ground.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

Vehicle

Chuck Wagon

Modern image of a man, dressed as an old timer, in front of his chuckwagon, which is open for buisness with his cooking implements ready to go.
Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Waterlily

Nymphaea Texas Dawn

Fresh, perfect waterlily with its white petals and yellow stamens sits atop its deep green Lilypad.
Photo credit: Envato Elements

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Page last modified: October 29, 2024