Ohio state symbols

How to read it

Chapter 5 of the Ohio Revised Code names each: the cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis; the scarlet carnation, adopted “as a token of love and reverence for the memory of William McKinley”; the buckeye; and the motto “With God, All Things Are Possible”. The code’s sections carry the dates of a 1953 recodification, so the Department of Natural Resources and the Statehouse give the first adoptions: the cardinal in 1933, the buckeye in 1953, and the carnation on February 3, 1904. The motto was adopted by an act of 1959. The large white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), “found in every Ohio county”, is the state wild flower; the Department of Natural Resources dates it to 1986 and the code’s section took effect on March 5, 1987.

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McKinley’s carnation

The Supreme Court of Ohio’s news service says the scarlet carnation was President William McKinley’s favourite flower, and that the state honoured him with it. The statute still gives the reason in its own words: the carnation is adopted in his memory.

A misspelled buckeye

The code calls the buckeye “Aesculus globra”. The Legislative Service Commission’s note says the 1953 act misspelled it and the correct name is Aesculus glabra.

States with the same bird

The cardinal is also the state bird of North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.