Florida state symbols

How to read it

Only two of the four are in the Florida Statutes. The bird and the flower were chosen by the legislature without a statute: the orange blossom by the 1909 legislature, and the mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 3 in 1927, according to the Florida Department of State. The sabal palm became the state tree by a 1953 law, now section 15.031, which calls it the sabal palmetto palm, also known as the cabbage palm or cabbage palmetto. The motto has been on the state seal since 1868 and was made the official motto by statute in 2006.

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Florida’s symbols and when each was adopted

The same bird in other states

The Department of State notes that the mockingbird is also the state bird of Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. It is about ten inches long, grey above and white below, with white patches on the tail and wings.

The motto’s first wording

The Department of State says “In God We Trust” is a slight variation on Florida’s first state motto, “In God is our Trust”. The palm on the seal changed too: the 1970 legislature had the sabal palm replace the cocoa palm there.