Alaska state symbols

How to read it

All four are in chapter 44.09 of the Alaska Statutes. The forget-me-not is the oldest: the territorial legislature made it the “Territorial flower and floral emblem” in 1917, calling it emblematic of the constancy of the pioneers. The willow ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus alascensis, became the territory’s official bird in 1955, after it won by far the most votes in a contest run by the Territorial Department of Education. The Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis, followed in 1962; the law calls it the most valuable tree species in Alaska. The motto came last, in 1967. The State of Alaska says it was chosen during the Alaska Purchase Centennial and written by Juneau newsman Richard Peter.

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Alaska’s symbols and when each was adopted

Two of them are older than the state

The flower and the bird were chosen while Alaska was still a territory. The 1917 law names the forget-me-not the floral emblem “of the Territory of Alaska”, and the 1955 law declares the willow ptarmigan “the official bird of the Territory of Alaska”. Both carried over into the state’s statutes, which now call them the state flower and the official bird of the state. The tree (1962) and the motto (1967) were the new state’s own choices.

The bird that turns white

The State of Alaska describes the willow ptarmigan as a pheasant-like bird that changes colour from light brown in summer to snow white in winter. The same page gives the state’s nickname as “The Last Frontier”.