State Nickname: The Natural State
Arkansas's earliest recorded nicknames, "Bear State" and "Toothpick State," referred to characteristic features of the area. In the first half of the Nineteenth century, Arkansas was noted for its bear population: thousands of Louisiana Black Bear (Ursus Americanus Luteolus), one of sixteen black bear species found in the United States, could be found here.
By the middle of the 19th century the term "Arkansas toothpick" described any large belt or sheath knife, especially a double-edged dirk or dagger best suited for skewering. The "toothpick" became fixed in public imagination as the rural Arkansans' weapon of choice. In 1837, the state's reputation for violence and weaponry was cemented after a fatal knife duel between two legislators on the floor of the House of Representatives.
In 1923 and again in 1953, the Assembly adopted new official nicknames for Arkansas meant to suggest a state rich in resources and ripe for development and economic possibilities. Both "The Wonder State" (1923) and "Land of Opportunity" (1953) enjoyed respect and wide use in their day, but did little to dispel national perceptions of the state.
During the 1980s, Arkansas's outreach to tourists became more aggressive, reflecting a maturing understanding of tourism as a growth industry. The Arkansas parks system began promoting Arkansas as "The Natural State" and the nickname proved popular, largely eclipsing the older "Land of Opportunity."
In 1995, Representative Dennis Young of Miller County introduced legislation to exchange the old nickname for the new one. Citing the state's "unsurpassed scenery, clear lakes, free-flowing streams, magnificent rivers, meandering bayous, delta bottomlands, forested mountains and abundant fish and wildlife," Act 1352 made the slogan official.
State Motto: Ragnat Populus
Arkansas's state motto is "The People Rule," expressed in Latin as Regnat Populus. The motto originated in territorial days. The 1836 statehood Constitution named elements of the Great Seal of State, including the motto, but gave its Latin form as Regnant Populi.
In 1907, the General Assembly altered the motto's Latin order to better express the sense of its English version. An act approved on May 24, 1907, modified the subject to populus, meaning "the people" rather than the earlier version's less definite meaning. Adjusting the verb to agree with the subject resulted in Regnat Populus, our present motto.
State Seal
The state seal of Arkansas derives from the territorial seal designed by Samuel Calhoun Roane. When Arkansas became a state in 1836, the legislature altered the seal by substituting "Seal of the State of Arkansas" for its original territorial designation. An 1856 act specified some 20 elements, words and phrases to be included in the official seal.
In 1864, the Assembly adopted a new formula that survives to this day. Arkansas Code 1-4-108 requires the following elements:
"An eagle at the bottom, holding a scroll in its beak inscribed Regnat Populus, with a bundle of arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other; a shield covering the breast of the eagle, engraved with a steamboat at the top, a beehive and plow in the middle, and a sheaf of wheat at the bottom; the Goddess of Liberty at the top, holding a wreath in her right hand, a pole in the left hand, surmounted by a liberty cap, and surrounded by a circle of stars outside of which is a circle of rays; the figure of an angel on the left, inscribed "Mercy;" and a sword on the right hand, inscribed "Justice" and surrounded with the words "Seal of the State of Arkansas."
State Tree: Southern Pine
House Concurrent Resolution No. 2 of 1939 designated the pine tree as Arkansas's official state tree, calling it one of Arkansas's "greatest sources of wealth" and, notably, "one of the few renewable resources of the state." The resolution did not specify a particular native pine species, but reference is often made to either the southern shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) or the loblolly pine (Pinus taeda).
Before European-American settlement, almost all of Arkansas was forested with notable diversity. Early logging was small scale but by the end of the 19th century, railroads brought mass access to external markets, and Arkansas timber left the state at a rapid rate. By 1930, many areas were "logged out." Since then, however, strong markets and improved forestry techniques have contributed to the pine forests' recovery. A 2005 assessment revealed more than 5 million acres of pine (both loblolly and shortleaf) and mixed-pine forest in Arkansas.
State Mammal: White-tailed Deer
In April 1993, Governor Jim Guy Tucker signed into law Act 892, designating the white-tailed deer as the official mammal of the State of Arkansas. Arkansas is one of eleven states that have selected Odocoileus Virginianus as an official symbol.
Before European settlement, deer abounded in present-day Arkansas. Over time, however, development and overhunting led to a steep decline in deer populations. By the mid-1930s, only a few hundred remained in Arkansas. Since then, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has managed a highly successful deer repopulation program: as of 2008, Arkansas's white-tail herd hovers at about one million head.
State Bird: Mockingbird
On March 5, 1929, the 47th General Assembly adopted House Concurrent Resolution Number 22 proclaiming the mockingbird to be the state bird of Arkansas. The State Federation of Women's Clubs promoted the legislation.
The mockingbird, one of the best-recognized birds in the South, does not migrate. It can sing for hours on end and can mimic other bird species as well as dogs, sirens and even squeaky gates - thus its scientific name, Mimus polyglottos, or "mimic of many tongues."
State Grape: Cynthiana
Approximately 150 commercial wineries have operated in Arkansas since 1870. As of 2009, seven continue the tradition. To honor this heritage, Act 547 of the 2009 Legislative Assembly, introduced by Representatives Beverly Pyle (District 83, Crawford and Franklin Counties) and Kathy Webb (District 37, Pulaski County), designated the Cynthiana as Arkansas's official state grape.
Cynthiana is the oldest native North American grape in commercial cultivation today. It was first identified as early as 1770 and one 19th-century authority suggested that it was native to Arkansas. The Cynthiana, sometimes referred to as the "Cabernet of the Ozarks," is almost identical to the Norton, refined and cultivated by Virginia physician Dr. Daniel Norborne Norton and first commercially available by 1830. Arkansas and Missouri are the nation's main producers of the grape which, under the name of Norton/Cynthiana, was designated Missouri's state grape in 2003.
State Beverage: Milk
In 1985, the Arkansas General Assembly named milk the state's official beverage. Reasons for the designation included milk's healthfulness, the desire to encourage milk consumption and the importance of the dairy sector in Arkansas. The legislation did not specify a type or grade of milk, leaving it up to Arkansans to consume the variety of their choice.
Dairy production was long a mainstay of Arkansas farming. In 1940, Arkansas's milk cows numbered about 439,000, the gross farm income from dairy totaling $23 million. Since then, the size of Arkansas dairy herds has dwindled: in 2002, dairy herds totaled 32,000 head. The value of sales of Arkansas milk and other dairy products in 2002 was $S4.05 million.
State Historic Cooking Vessel: Dutch Oven
In 2001, the Dutch oven was adopted by the Legislative Assembly as the state's historic cooking vessel; this designation celebrated its prominent place in Arkansas's culinary history.
The Dutch oven is an iron pot cast with three short legs to provide stability and space under the oven for coals to heat it from underneath. It features a flat bottom and a tight-fitting lid to contain heat, moisture and pressure in the oven. The lid is cast with a rim, which helps contain coals for top-cooking heat. Dutch ovens were carried by early settlers and were in wide use by the early 1800s. By the time of Arkansas's statehood, most homes likely had Dutch ovens in use in their hearths or fire pits, substituting for purpose-built, permanent ovens.
State Butterfly: Diana Fritillary
On February 28, 2007, Act 156 of the Arkansas General Assembly designated the Diana fritillary (Speyeria diana) as the official state butterfly. The Diana fritillary is among the most spectacular of the 132 resident species of butterflies found in Arkansas. Diana was the Roman goddess of light and life, later known as the goddess of the moon and hunting and as a protector of women. Fritillary derives from the Latin fritillus, meaning "dice-box," referring to spot patterns on the wings. Males are blackish-brown with orange markings; the larger females are black with iridescent blue.
State Insect: Honeybee
Act 49 of the General Assembly of 1973 designated the honeybee (Apis mellifera) as the state's official insect. The legislation took note of the bee's important role in crop pollination but primarily extolled the bee's virtues of diligence, hard work, attention to home defense, and productivity.
Arkansas has long been a significant honey producer, much of it packed and sold by local apiaries for local consumption. In 2004, Arkansas bees produced 2.28 million pounds. The Arkansas State Plant Board asserts that one-third of food crops rely on natural bee-borne pollination; of this, about eighty percent is accomplished by honeybee colonies.
State Fruit: South Arkansas Pink Tomato
In 1987, the Arkansas General Assembly conferred official status on the pink tomato, long a staple of Arkansas gardens. Act 255 asserted that, because it was technically a fruit but generally consumed as a vegetable, it deserved a compound honor. In the last half of the Nineteenth century, Americans embraced the tomato as a healthy staple. By the 1920s, southeast Arkansas market farmers favored breeds that ripened to a pink hue and could be picked and shipped at "breaker" (first ripening). In 1956, citizens of Warren (Bradley County) organized a festival to honor the crop known familiarly as the "Bradley Pink."
Pink tomatoes have been crowded out of national markets by more durable competitors. For Arkansas consumers, though, the vine-ripened pink remains available in farmers' markets and other locally sourced produce stands during summer. Warren continues to host the Pink Tomato Festival each June.
State Flower: Apple Blossom
In 1901, the Arkansas General Assembly designated the apple blossom-Malus (Pyrus) coronaria- the official floral emblem of Arkansas. The apple blossom was championed by Mrs. Love Barton, head of the Searcy (White County) chapter of the Arkansas Floral Emblem Society. The importance of the apple as a cash crop bolstered her case: some 400 varieties were grown in Arkansas and they had won blue ribbons at the Chicago Exposition of 1893 and the Paris Exposition of 1900. Mrs. Barton concluded her lobbying by delivering a bushel of polished Arkansas apples to the Senate chamber on January 30, 1901.
The apple blossom remains the state's floral emblem despite the apples decline in importance as an Arkansas market crop. Popular sentiment still favors the apple: in Lincoln County, the annual Apple Festival pays tribute to the fruit.
State Nut: Pecan
The 87th Arkansas Legislative Assembly designated the pecan as the official nut of the State of Arkansas. Act 638, introduced by Representative Larry Cowling (District 2, Little River County), specifically noted that it did not grant protected status to the pecan, thus ensuring that the fruit of the Carya illinoinensis may be harvested and consumed.
The pecan is a species of hickory native to much of the South, first commercially cultivated in the 1880s. In addition to its nutmeats, the pecan's wood is prized for flooring, cabinetry and smoking meats. Pecans in some 25 varieties are grown in alluvial soils throughout southern, eastern and central Arkansas, with production zones along major rivers. The nuts are harvested by being mechanically shaken from their trees, then picked up from the ground. In 2008, Arkansas's pecan groves produced approximately one million pounds of nuts, slightly less than one-half of the previous year's production figure.
State Grain: Rice
In March of 2007, the Arkansas Legislative Assembly approved House Bill 2434, designating rice as the state's official grain. Arkansas's rice industry dates to 1901, when R.E. Hope of Stuttgart planted a test garden with seed from Louisiana. Hope's experiment attracted notice and emulation; Stuttgart's first rice mill and a state agricultural experiment station were built in 1907.
Rice soon became well established on the Grand Prairie around Stuttgart. The land and soil proved ideal for rice cultivation: frequent fires had kept the prairie clear of most trees, and the local soil series included a clay-rich layer which slowed water percolation. Today, Arkansas has about 1.5 million acres in rice production.
State Soil: Stuttgart Soil Series
Act 890 of 1997 designated the Stuttgart soil series the official state soil. It is named for Stuttgart (Arkansas County) and is distributed over roughly 200,000 acres of eastern and southeastern Arkansas. These acres are used primarily for growing rice, small grains, soybeans, and corn. Stuttgart soils typically exhibit three layers: the upper layers are of different silt loams, and the subsoils are rich in red and gray silty clays. The high percentage of clay in the subsoil slows water absorption, making the Stuttgart series ideal for rice culture.
State Musical Instrument: Fiddle
On February 28, 1985, the Arkansas Legislature approved Act 277, designating the fiddle as Arkansas's official musical instrument, "commonly associated with the musical education and entertainment of the pioneer families of Arkansas and... a dominant musical instrument in the culture... of the people of Arkansas."
The humorous tale "Arkansas Traveler" illustrated the fiddle's association with early Arkansas. Today, the g* art of fiddling is promoted by local folk music societies, a handful of violin makers and the state's annual Old-Time Fiddling Championship, held each autumn at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View (Stone County).
The fiddle at left was crafted from native Arkansas spruce and maple by Fayetteville luthier Marion E. Johnson and presented to the state on March 5, 1985. Johnson's gift was made to remind Arkansans of the fiddle's prominence in the state's musical heritage and also to "in some way further interest in the fiddle and fiddle playing."
State Historic Folk Dance: Square Dance
In 1991, Act 93 of the Arkansas General Assembly designated the square dance as the official folk dance of Arkansas. The measure defined square dancing as incorporating virtually all "called" or cued dances - including clogging, contra, and line dancing - and asserted that official designation would "enhance cultural stature of Arkansas both nationally and internationally."
Brought to the New World by French and English colonists in the 17th century, such dances were staples of community entertainment. Square dancing enjoyed a revival in the 20th century thanks to industrialist Henry Ford, who promoted it as a wholesome tradition of the preindustrial era. After World War II, square-dancing clubs helped institutionalize what had once been a widespread but informal folk tradition.
State Songs
In 1914, The Arkansas Assembly adopted "Arkansas," a stately anthem composed by sometime Ouachita Baptist College music professor Eva Ware Barnett, as the state's official song.
In 1947, a long-running feud over copyrights and royalties between the state and Mrs. Barnett led to the adoption of "The Arkansas Traveler," an early-19th-century fiddle tune, as the new official state song. It was adopted as a melody, without lyrics; these were supplied in 1949 by the State Song Commission.
Although "Arkansas Traveler" enjoyed popularity as a fiddle melody, its lyrics proved less so; school groups statewide continued to sing Eva Barnett's "Arkansas" long after it ceased to be the official state song. In 1963, outstanding copyright questions were resolved and Mrs. Barnett saw her anthem restored to its place as official state song.
It's the spirit of the mountains and the spirit of the Delta,
It's the spirit of the Capitol dome.
It's the spirit of the river and the spirit of the lakes,
It's the spirit that's in each and every home,
It's the spirit of the people and the spirit of the land,
It's the spirit of tomorrow and today.
-from "Oh, Arkansas" by Terry Rose, Gary Klaff and Mark Weinstein
In 1985, as Arkansas's 150th birthday approached, two musicians with Arkansas roots composed songs honoring the state. Little Rock-based musician and actor Terry Rose recorded "Oh, Arkansas," co-written with Chicago Songwriters Gary Klaff and Mark Weinstein. Nashville-based but Arkansas-born songwriter Wayland Holyfield penned "Arkansas (You Run Deep In Me)," then recorded it with Arkansas-born musicians.
Both songs proved popular during the Sesquicentennial year, leading to calls for their designation as official state symbols. A 1987 resolution of the Legislative Assembly named both songs as official state songs, while honoring "Arkansas Traveler" as the state's official historic song and "Arkansas" as the official state anthem.
State Mineral: Quartz
Act 128 drew attention to the distinctive quartz crystals mined in the central Ouachita Mountains and long prized by collectors. The crystals come from a "quartz belt" about 150 to 170 miles long and 30 to 40 miles wide, extending southwest from near Little Rock (Pulaski County). Beginning in the 1850s, health-seekers taking the waters at Hot Springs (Garland County) bought crystals as curios or souvenirs. During the 1980s, a growing belief in the metaphysical properties of crystals led to an upswing in demand. Today, several commercial crystal mines in Arkansas allow paying collectors to hunt for specimens; rockhounding also continues on both private and public land.
State Rock: Bauxite
Bauxite, the most common ore of aluminum, was discovered in southern Pulaski County in 1887. The first attempts to mine Arkansas bauxite commercially began eleven years later. The industry remained centered in Pulaski and Saline counties throughout its history. Throughout the 20th century, Arkansas remained the nation's major bauxite producer, providing about ninety percent of all domestic tonnage mined.
State Gem: Diamond
Diamonds were discovered in Arkansas in 1906 near the mouth of Pra
State Flag
To celebrate the commissioning of the battleship USS Arkansas in 1912, the Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution sponsored a contest to design Arkansas's first official flag.
Ultimately some sixty-five designs —including crayon drawings, watercolor sketches, and even miniature silk flags — were submitted. In early 1913, the judging committee chose a design submitted by Miss Willie Kavanaugh Hocker of Wabbaseka.
Hocker's design featured a red field upon which was centered a white diamond bordered by twenty-five white stars on a blue band. Three blue stars, centered on the flag's horizontal axis on a white field, completed the plan. The three blue stars in the center field bore several meanings: first, that Arkansas had successively belonged to three countries —France, Spain and the United States-before statehood; second, that 1803 was the year of the Louisiana Purchase, which included present-day Arkansas; third, that Arkansas was the third state created from the purchase. The twenty-five white stars symbolized that Arkansas was the twenty-fifth state admitted to the Union. The diamond marked Arkansas's status as the nation's only diamond-producing state.
The committee liked the design but decreed that the flag ought to bear the state's name. The three blue stars were rearranged, one above the name and two below.
In 1923 the General Assembly added a fourth star to the central diamond to represent Arkansas's membership in the Confederate States of America. At first, the stars were arranged with two above and two below the state's name.
The Second Extraordinary Session in 1924 placed three stars below and one above, with the three lower stars arranged as an inverted triangle. A new element of symbolism was added: the twin stars immediately below the state's name would suggest the "twin" relationship of Arkansas and Michigan, which were admitted to the Union within approximately seven months of each other, maintaining the balance between free and slave states in Congress.
Documentation courtesy of the office of the Arkansas Secretary of State, as displayed in the Standing For Arkansas exhibit in the west corridor of the fourth floor of the State Capitol.
