List of Georgia state symbols

Location of the state of Georgia in the United States

The state of Georgia has numerous symbols, as defined in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated or by joint resolutions of the Georgia General Assembly. The oldest symbol is the Great Seal of Georgia, designated by the Constitution of Georgia in 1798. The most recently designated symbol is the Southeast Georgia Soap Box Derby, added in 2024.

Insignia

Further information: List of U.S. state, district, and territorial insignia

Overview of insignias of Georgia

Type	Symbol	Year	Image
Flag	Flag of Georgia	2003 [1]
Motto	"Wisdom, Justice, Moderation"	1799 [2] [3]
Seal	Great Seal of Georgia	1798 (1914) [note 1] [4]
Creed	Georgian's Creed	1939 [5] [6]
Song	"Georgia on My Mind" lyrics by Stuart Gorrell and music by Hoagy Carmichael with words by Robert Loveman [7] [8] [9]	1979 [10]

Plants

Overview of plant symbols of Georgia

Type	Symbol	Year	Image
Crop	Peanut	1995 [11] [12]
Flower	Cherokee rose Rosa laevigata	1916 [13] [14]
Fruit	Peach	1995 [15] [16]
Grape	Muscadine grape	2021 [17]
Nut	Pecan	2021 [18]
Tree	Southern live oak Quercus virginiana	1937 [19] [20]
Vegetable	Vidalia sweet onion	1990 [21] [22]
Wildflower	Azalea Rhododendron sp.	1979 [23] [24]

Animals

Overview of animal symbols of Georgia

Type	Symbol	Year	Image
Amphibian	American green tree frog Hyla cinerea	2005 [25] [26]
Bird	Brown thrasher Toxostoma rufum	1935 (1970) [27] [28] [29]
Butterfly	Eastern tiger swallowtail Papilio glaucus	1988 [30] [31]
Cold water game fish	Southern Appalachian brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis	2006 [32] [33]
Crustacean	White shrimp	2024 [34]
Dog	"Adoptable dog"	2016 [35] [36]
Fish	Largemouth bass	1970 [37] [38]
Game bird	Bobwhite quail	1970 [39] [40]
Insect	Honeybee	1975 [41] [42]
Mammal	White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus	2015 [43]
Marine mammal	North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis	1985 [44] [45]
Reptile	Gopher tortoise Gopherus polyphemus	1989 [46] [47]
Riverine sport fish	Shoal bass Micropterus cataractae	2020 [48]
Salt-water fish	Red drum Sciaenops ocellatus	2006 [49] [50]

Geology

Overview of geological symbols of Georgia

Type	Symbol	Year	Image
Fossil	Shark tooth	1976 [51] [52]
Gem	Quartz	1976 [53] [54]
Mineral	Staurolite	1976 [55] [56]
Seashell	Knobbed whelk Busycon carica	1987 [57] [58]

Culture

Overview of cultural symbols of Georgia

Type	Symbol	Year	Image
Art museum	Georgia Museum of Art	1982 [59]
Atlas	The Atlas of Georgia	1985 [60]
Ballet company	Atlanta Ballet	1973 [61]
Beef barbecue championship Cook-off	The Hawkinsville Civitan Club's "Shoot the Bull" barbecue championship	1997 [62] [63]
Botanical garden	State Botanical Garden of Georgia	1984 [64]
Center for character education	National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force	2005 [65] [66]
First Mural City	Colquitt	2006 [67]
Folk dance	Square dance	1996 [68] [69]
Folk festival	Georgia Folk Festival	1992 [70] [71]
Folk life play	Swamp Gravy	1994 [72] [73]
Frontier and southeastern Indian interpretive center	Funk Heritage Center	2003 [74] [66]
Historic drama	The Reach of Song, a play about mountain writer Byron Herbert Reece	1990 [75] [76]
Historical civil rights museum	Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum	2008 [77] [78]
Musical theater	Jekyll Island Musical Theatre Festival	1993 [79] [80]
Peanut monument	Turner County on the west side of Interstate Highway 75 within the limits of the city of Ashburn	1998 [11] [81]
Poet Laureate	Poet Laureate of Georgia	1925 [82] [83] [84]
Pork cook-off	The Dooly County Chamber of Commerce's "Slosheye Trail Big Pig Jig"	1997 [62] [85]
'Possum	Pogo 'Possum	1992 [86] [87]
Prepared food	Grits	2002 [88] [89]
Railroad museum	The Central of Georgia Railroad Shops Complex Savannah	1996 [90] [91]
School	Plains High School, now part of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site	1997 [92] [93] [94]
Soap Box Derby	Southeast Georgia Soap Box Derby	2024 [95]
Tartan	Georgia Tartan	1997 [96] [97]
Theater	Springer Opera House Columbus	1971–2 (1992) [note 2] [98] [99]
Transportation history museum	Southeastern Railway Museum	2000 [100] [101]
Waltz	"Our Georgia"	1951 [102] [103]

Notes

1. The state seal was defined by the Georgia Constitution of 1798 and bore the date 1799. In 1914, the date was changed to 1776.
2. As governor, Jimmy Carter made it the state theater for the 1971–1972 season. In 1992, the legislature made the designation formal and ongoing.

References

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3. The three words, "Wisdom", "Justice", and "Moderation", were in the definition of the state seal, but were never formally adopted independent of the seal.
4. "Georgia General Assembly | State Grape". advance.lexis.com. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
5. "Georgia State Creed", GeorgiaInfo, Digital Library of Georgia, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-22
6. "State Creed", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-22
7. The previous state song "Georgia" was composed by Lollie Belle Wylie.
8. Smith, Kelundra (April 28, 2015). "Preview: Oakland Cemetery will come to life Saturday with sound art of "Cryptophonic Tour"". Atlanta, Georgia: Arts Atl. Archived from the original on 2019-06-23. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
9. Crouch, Kenneth E. (March 1950). "The State Song of Georgia". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 34 (1). Savannah, Georgia: Georgia Historical Society: 8–9. ISSN   0016-8297. JSTOR   40577207.
10. "§ 50-3-60. Official song", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-23, retrieved 2019-06-23
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14. "State Flower", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-23
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18. Poitevint, Bobby (10 April 2021). "Georgia reclaims top US pecan producer; Kemp declares pecans official state nut". WALB-TV . Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
19. "§ 50-3-55. Official tree", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2020-08-03, retrieved 2019-06-25
20. "State Tree", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-25
21. "§ 50-3-65. Official vegetable", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-23
22. "State Vegetable", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-23
23. "§ 50-3-54. State wild flower", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-23
24. "State Wildflower", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
25. "§ 50-3-81. Official amphibian", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-05-07, retrieved 2019-06-21
26. "State Amphibian", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
27. The inititial designation was by gubernatorial proclamation.
28. "§ 50-3-50. State bird", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-23
29. "State Bird", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-23
30. "§ 50-3-62. Official butterfly", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-24
31. "State Butterfly", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-25
32. "§ 50-3-82. Official cold water game fish", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-23, retrieved 2019-06-23
33. Diprima, Paul (Mar 17, 2007), "Georgia home to several kinds of trout", Rome News-Tribune, archived from the original on 2019-06-23, retrieved 2019-06-23
34. "Code of Georgia | State Crustacean". Justia. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
35. "§ 50-3-88. Definitions; adoptable dog designated as the official state dog", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-22
36. Davis, Janel (March 24, 2016), "Lawmakers name 'adoptable dog' as state dog of Georgia", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-22
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38. "State Fish", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-23
39. "§ 50-3-51. State game bird", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-23
40. "State Game Bird", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-23
41. "§ 50-3-58. Official insect", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-25, retrieved 2019-06-21
42. "State Insect", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-24
43. "Code of Georgia | State mammal". Justia. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
44. "Joint Resolution of the Georgia General Assembly designating the Right Whale", GeorgiaInfo, Digital Library of Georgia, April 2, 1985, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-22
45. "State Mammal", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-22
46. "§ 50-3-63. Official reptile", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-24
47. "State School", State Reptile, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-24
48. "Code of Georgia | State riverine sport fish". Justia. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
49. "§ 50-3-83. Official salt-water fish", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-23, retrieved 2019-06-23
50. Dickson, Terry (Aug 9, 2016), "Red drum will be on new Georgia license plate to enhance marine habitat", jacksonville.com, archived from the original on 2019-06-23, retrieved 2019-06-23
51. "§ 50-3-56. Official fossil", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-24
52. "State Game Bird", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-23
53. "§ 50-3-57. Official gem", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-25, retrieved 2019-06-24
54. "State Gem", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-24
55. "§ 50-3-59. Official mineral", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-25, retrieved 2019-06-24
56. "State Mineral", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-24
57. "1987 Joint Resolution Declaring Knobbed Whelk as Georgia's Official State Seashell", GeorgiaInfo, Digital Library of Georgia, April 16, 1987, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-22
58. "State Seashell", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-22
59. "State Art Museum", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-24
60. "State Atlas", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-24
61. Getting to know Georgia (PDF), Office of Secretary of State, June 2003, archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-12-21, retrieved 2019-06-26
62. "§ 50-3-75. Official beef barbecue championship cookoff; official pork barbecue championship cookoff", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-21
63. "State Beef Cook-off", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
64. Thomas, Frances Taliaferro (2009). A Portrait of Historic Athens & Clarke County. University of Georgia Press. p. 242. ISBN   978-0-8203-3044-0. Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
65. "§ 50-3-79. Official center for character education", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-26, retrieved 2019-06-21
66. Summary of General Statutes Enacted at the 2003 Session of the General Assembly of Georgia (PDF), p. 46, archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-03-01, retrieved 2019-06-26
67. "Code of Georgia | State First Mural City". Justia. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
68. "§ 50-3-73. Official folk dance", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-21
69. "State Folk Dance", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
70. "§ 50-3-67. Official state folk festival", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-23
71. "State Folk Festival", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-27
72. "State Folk Life Play", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-23
73. Fletcher, Carlton (March 8, 2013), "Colquitt's Swamp Gravy marks 20 years", The Albany Herald , archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-23
74. "§ 50-3-80. Official Frontier and Southeastern Indian Interpretive Center", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-26, retrieved 2019-06-21
75. "§ 50-3-64. Official historic drama", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-23
76. "State Historic Drama", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-23
77. "§ 50-3-85. Official Georgia historical civil rights museum", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2020-08-03, retrieved 2019-06-25
78. Williams, Kenda (May 19, 2010), "Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum hosts fundraising gala", savannahnow, archived from the original on 2020-08-03, retrieved 2019-06-25
79. "§ 50-3-69. Official musical theatre", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2023-02-06, retrieved 2019-06-24
80. "State Musical Theatre", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
81. "State Peanut Monument", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
82. "§ 50-1-3. Poet laureate", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2023-02-06, retrieved 2019-06-24
83. "State Poet Laureate", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
84. "Georgia", State Poets, Library of Congress, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
85. "State Pork Cook-off", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
86. "§ 50-3-68. Official 'Possum", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2020-08-03, retrieved 2019-06-25
87. "State 'Possum", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-25
88. "§ 50-3-78. State official prepared food", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-21
89. "State Prepared Food", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
90. "§ 50-3-74. Official railroad museum", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-21
91. "State Railroad Museum", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
92. "§ 20-1-6.1 - Official state school", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2020-08-03, retrieved 2019-06-24
93. "Plains High School (Side 2)", GeorgiaInfo, Digital Library of Georgia, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-24
94. "State School", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-24
95. "2024 CODE OF GEORGIA :: Title 50 - STATE GOVERNMENT (§§ 50-1-1 — 50-40-84) :: Chapter 3 - STATE FLAG, SEAL, AND OTHER SYMBOLS (§§ 50-3-1 — 50-3-120) :: Article 3 - OTHER STATE SYMBOLS (§§ 50-3-50 — 50-3-93) :: Section 50-3-92 - State soap box derby". Justia Law. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
96. "§ 50-3-76. Official tartan", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-21
97. "State Tartan", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
98. "§ 50-3-66. State theater", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-25, retrieved 2019-06-24
99. "The State Theatre", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-24
100. "§ 50-3-77. Official state transportation history museum designated; maximization of advertising programs", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-22, retrieved 2019-06-21
101. "State Transportation History Museum", State Symbols, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-21
102. "§ 50-3-61. Official waltz", Official Code of Georgia Annotated, archived from the original on 2019-06-24, retrieved 2019-06-24
103. "State Vegetable", State Waltz, Office of Secretary of State, archived from the original on 2019-06-21, retrieved 2019-06-24

External links

• State Symbols page from the Georgia Secretary of State
• State Symbols page from the Digital Library of Georgia