This is a list of symbols of the District of Columbia.
This is a list of symbols of the District of Columbia.
| Type | Symbol | Adopted | Image | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flag | Flag of the District of Columbia | 1938 [1] |  | [2] |
| Seal | Seal of the District of Columbia | 1871 |  | [1] |
| Coat of arms | Coat of arms of the District of Columbia | 1871 |  | |
| Motto | Justitia omnibus (Latin for "Justice for all") | 1871 | — | [1] |
| Type | Symbol | Description | Adopted | Image | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bird | Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) | 1967 [1] |  | ||
| Crustacean | Hay's Spring amphipod (Stygobromus hayi) | 2016 | [3] | ||
| Dinosaur | Capitalsaurus | "Capitalsaurus" is the informal genus name given to a tailbone belonging to a large theropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous. It was discovered on January 28, 1898, by construction workers excavating a sewer at the intersection of First and F Streets SE. The only known specimen, it was assigned two different species designations – Creosaurus potens and Dryptosaurus potens – and eventually overturned each time. In the 1990s, the paleontologist Peter Kranz asserted that it represented a unique type of dinosaur and assigned it the name "Capitalsaurus". He successfully campaigned through local schools to make "Capitalsaurus" the official dinosaur of Washington, D.C., which became law in 1998. [4] [5] A year later, the district further recognized F Street at the discovery site as Capitalsaurus Court. It designated January 28, 2001, as Capitalsaurus Day. [4] [6] | 1998 |  | [7] |
| Fish | American shad (Alosa sapidissima) | [8] | 2016 |  | [3] |
| Flower | 'American Beauty' rose (Rosa 'American Beauty') | [1] | |||
| Fruit | Cherry | 2006 |  | [9] | |
| Mammal | Big brown bat | 2020 |  | [10] | |
| Tree | Scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) | 1960 [1] |  | ||
| Type | Symbol | Description | Adopted | Image | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock | Potomac bluestone | Potomac bluestone is a metamorphic rock that has been used extensively in the construction of the District of Columbia. It was used as the foundation of the White House, U.S. Capitol, and Washington Monument. Many old houses in the Northwest quadrant, notably the Old Stone House, are constructed out of the rock. | 2014 |  | [11] |
| Type | Symbol | Description | Adopted | Image | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beverage | Rickey | At the place of origin of the cocktail, Jack Evans, a city councillor, and Eleanor Holmes Norton, the House delegate for the district, unveiled a plaque honoring the Rickey. It was proclaimed "Washington, D.C.'s native cocktail". July was also declared as Rickey Month in the district. Various news outlets subsequently described the Rickey as the city's official cocktail. [12] | 2011 |  | [13] |
| Dance | Hand dancing | Hand dancing is a form of swing dance that is derived from the Lindy Hop and the jitterbug. It is characterized by coordinated footwork, spins, and traveling, where the dance partners communicate moves using hand-based connection. Residents of the District of Columbia invented the dance form in the 1950s, but it fell out of favor in the disco era. A Smithsonian Institution exhibit declaring the dance a national art form led to its resurgence in the 1990s. [14] | 1999 |  | [15] |
| March | "Our Nation's Capitol" by Anthony A. Mitchell | In 1959, Anthony A. Mitchell (pictured), the assistant conductor for the U.S. Navy Band, wrote "Our Nation's Capitol". Robert Enoch McLaughlin, the president of the Board of Commissioners declared it the district's official march in 1961, saying to The Washington Post, "I found it so stirring that for the first time since I left the Naval Academy, I felt like marching." Words were added later by Dixon Redditt. [16] | 1961 |  | [17] |
| Music | Go-go | Go-go music, a type of funk music with an emphasis on rhythmic patterns and melodic call-and-response sessions, originated within the district's African-American community during the mid-1960s to late-1970s. Chuck Brown (pictured), considered the "godfather of go-go", described it as music with a groovy beat that just "goes and goes", coining the name. Strict curfew laws from the 1980s that targeted youth who attend go-go clubs caused the culture to suffer. [18] Upon recognizing the music as an official symbol, the D.C. Council repealed the curfew laws and required the mayor to develop a preservation plan. [19] | 2020 |  | [19] |
| Song | "Washington" by Jimmie Dodd | 1951 |  | [20] |
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly called Washington or D.C., is the capital city and the federal district of the United States. The city is located on the east bank of the Potomac River, which forms its southwestern border with Virginia and borders Maryland to its north and east. Washington, D.C. was named for George Washington, a Founding Father, victorious commanding general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and the first president of the United States, who is widely considered the "Father of his country". The district is named for Columbia, the female personification of the nation.
The District of Columbia statehood movement is a political movement that advocates making the District of Columbia a U.S. state, to provide the residents of the District of Columbia with voting representation in the Congress and complete control over local affairs.
The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state and is overseen directly by the federal government.
The District of Columbia Home Rule Act is a United States federal law passed on December 24, 1973, which devolved certain congressional powers of the District of Columbia to local government, furthering District of Columbia home rule. In particular, it includes the District Charter, which provides for an elected mayor and the Council of the District of Columbia. The council is composed of a chair elected at large and twelve members, four of whom are elected at large, and one from each of the District's eight wards. Council members are elected to four-year terms.
District of Columbia home rule is the District of Columbia residents' ability to govern their local affairs. As the federal capital, the Constitution grants the United States Congress exclusive jurisdiction over the District in "all cases whatsoever".
District of Columbia retrocession is the act of returning some or all of the land that had been ceded to the federal government of the United States for the purpose of creating its federal district for the new national capital, which was moved from Philadelphia to what was then called the City of Washington in 1800. The land was originally ceded to the federal government by Virginia and Maryland in 1790. After moving through various stages of federal and state approval, the Virginia portion was returned in March 1847.
The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the local public school system for Washington, D.C. It is distinct from the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools (DCPCS), which governs public charter schools in the city.
Philip Heath Mendelson is an American politician from Washington, D.C. He is currently Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, elected by the Council on June 13, 2012, following the resignation of Kwame R. Brown. He was elected to serve the remainder of Brown's term in a citywide special election on November 6, 2012, and re-elected to a full term in 2014 and 2018.
Vincent Condol Gray is an American politician who served as the mayor of the District of Columbia from 2011 to 2015.
The National World War I Memorial is a national memorial commemorating the service rendered by members of the United States Armed Forces in World War I. The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the World War I Centennial Commission to build the memorial in Pershing Park, located at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. The park, which has existed since 1981, also contains the John J. Pershing General of the Armies commemorative work. In January 2016, the design commission selected the submission "The Weight of Sacrifice", by a team consisting of Joseph Weishaar, Sabin Howard, Phoebe Lickwar, and GWWO Architects, as the winning design, which is expected to be completed by 2024.
John K. Evans III is an American lawyer and politician who served on the Council of the District of Columbia from 1991 to 2020 before resigning due to numerous ethics violations. Evans served as the chairman of the board of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) until its ethics committee found he violated conflict of interest rules. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Ward 2 of Washington, D.C. from May 1991 to January 2020, making him the D.C. Council's longest-serving lawmaker. He ran for Mayor in 1998 and 2014, but lost in the Democratic primary both times.
The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 is an Act of Congress that repealed the individual charters of the cities of Washington and Georgetown and established a new territorial government for the whole District of Columbia. Though Congress repealed the territorial government in 1874, the legislation was the first to create a single municipal government for the federal district.
Muriel Elizabeth Bowser is an American politician who has served as the mayor of the District of Columbia since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015. She is the second female mayor of the District of Columbia after Sharon Pratt, and the first woman to be reelected to that position.
The District of Columbia has a mayor–council government that operates under Article One of the United States Constitution and the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The Home Rule Act devolves certain powers of the United States Congress to the local government, which consists of a mayor and a 13-member council. However, Congress retains the right to review and overturn laws created by the council and intervene in local affairs.
In the District of Columbia, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT people. Along with the rest of the country, the District of Columbia recognizes and allows same-sex marriages. The percentage of same-sex households in the District of Columbia in 2008 was at 1.8%, the highest in the nation. This number had grown to 4.2% by early 2015.
The mayor of the District of Columbia is the head of the executive branch of the government of the District of Columbia. The mayor has the duty to enforce district laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the D.C. Council. In addition, the mayor oversees all district services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and the district public school system. The mayor's office oversees an annual district budget of $8.8 billion. The mayor's executive office is located in the John A. Wilson Building in Downtown Washington, D.C. The mayor appoints several officers, including the deputy mayors for Education and Planning & Economic Development, the district administrator, the chancellor of the district's public schools, and the department heads of the district agencies.
The attorney general for the District of Columbia is the chief legal officer of the District of Columbia. While attorneys general previously were appointed by the mayor, District of Columbia voters approved a charter amendment in 2010 that made the office an elected position beginning in 2015.
A referendum on statehood for the District of Columbia was held on November 8, 2016. It was the first referendum on statehood to be held in the district. The District of Columbia was created following the passage of the Residence Act on July 9, 1790, which approved the creation of a national capital, the City of Washington on the Potomac River.