This is a list of official symbols of the U.S. state of Louisiana . Official symbols of Louisiana are codified in the laws of Louisiana.
This is a list of official symbols of the U.S. state of Louisiana . Official symbols of Louisiana are codified in the laws of Louisiana.
| Type | Symbol | Law |
|---|---|---|
| Amphibian | Green tree frog [2] (Hyla cinerea) | LL 169.1, 1993 |
| Beverage | Milk | LL 170, 1983 |
| Bird | Brown pelican [1] (Pelecanus occidentalis) | LL 159, 1958 |
| Butterfly | Gulf fritillary (Dione vanillae) | LL 164.1, 2022 |
| Colors | Blue, white, gold | LL 161, 1972 |
| Crustacean | Crawfish | LL 168, 1983 |
| Dog | Catahoula leopard dog [1] | LL 165, 1979 |
| Fish | White perch | LL 170.4, 1993 |
| Flower | Magnolia [1] | LL 154, 1900 |
| Fossil | Petrified palmwood | LL 162, 1976 |
| Fruit | Strawberry (Fragaria) | LL 166, 1980 |
| Gemstone | Crassostrea virginica oyster shell [3] (previously agate 1976–2011) | LL 163, 2011 |
| Mineral | Agate [4] | LL 163.1, 2011 |
| Insect | Honeybee (Apis mellifera) | LL 164, 1977 |
| Jelly | Mayhaw jelly and Louisiana sugar cane jelly | LL 170.8, 2003 |
| Mammal | Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) | LL 161.1, 1992 |
| Meat pie | Natchitoches meat pie | LL 170.9, 2003 |
| Motto | "Union, justice and confidence" | LL 151, 1902 |
| Musical instrument | Diatonic accordion, also known as the Cajun accordion | LL 155.3, 1990 |
| Reptile | American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) | LL 169, 1983 |
| Slogan | "Feed Your Soul" | Official [5] |
| Song | "You Are My Sunshine" and "Give Me Louisiana" | LL 155, 1970 |
| Song — environmental | "The Gifts of Earth" | LL 155.2, 1990 |
| Song — march | "Louisiana My Home Sweet Home" | LL 155.1, 1952 |
| Tartan | Louisiana Tartan | LL 170.6, 2001 |
| Tree | Bald cypress [1] (Taxodium distichum) | LL 160, 1963 |
| Vegetable | Sweet potato (Pomona Batista) | LL 170.11, 2003 |
| Vegetable plant | Creole tomato | LL 170.11, 2003 |
| Wildflower | Louisiana iris (Iris giganticaerulea) | LL 154.1, 1990 |
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the state of Louisiana and to the motto for which it stands: A state, under God, united in purpose and ideals, confident that justice shall prevail for all of those abiding here.
America
We the people
Justice, the word most sought by all, seek God to bless the courts with truth, for through His wisdom we rise or fall.
America
We the people
Do honor this great lady fair, who with her mighty arms still holds, the scales of Justice for all to share.
America
We the people
Do offer threads of hope to all, for Justice covers everyone; she does not measure, short or tall.
America
We the people
Boldly make this pledge to thee, that Justice will, in mind and heart, guide each destiny.
America
We............the...........people.
It is easy to bend with the wind and be weak,
Wrapped in silence when it would take courage to speak,
To do nothing when crises demand that you act;
To prefer a delusion to unpleasant fact.
But the easy evasions that dreamers embrace
Are denied to a leader with problems to face.
He must cope with the world as he finds it, and plan
To make each hard decision as well as he can.
He can't hide from the truth or deny what is real.
Though a lie might assuage all the fears people feel.
For the truth is the truth, and no lie can prevail.
In a world that is real, one must face truth or fail. [6]
The Pledge of Allegiance is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used at present, was written in 1885 by Captain George Thatcher Balch, a Union Army officer in the Civil War who later authored a book on how to teach patriotism to children in public schools. In 1892, Francis Bellamy revised Balch's verse as part of a magazine promotion surrounding the World's Columbian Exposition, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas. Bellamy, the circulation manager for The Youth's Companion magazine, helped persuade then-president Benjamin Harrison to institute Columbus Day as a national holiday and lobbied Congress for a national school celebration of the day. The magazine sent leaflets containing part of Bellamy's Pledge of Allegiance to schools across the country and on October 21, 1892, over 10,000 children recited the verse together.
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment protects students from being forced to salute the American flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance in public school. The court's 6–3 decision, delivered by Justice Robert H. Jackson, states "the right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights" are placed "beyond the reach of majorities and officials."
Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586 (1940), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States restricting the religious rights of public school students under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court ruled that public schools could compel students—in this case, Jehovah's Witnesses—to salute the American flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance despite the students' religious objections to these practices. This decision led to increased persecution of Witnesses in the United States. The Supreme Court overruled this decision three years later in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943).
The flag of Georgia is the flag of the U.S. state of Georgia. Its current iteration was adopted on February 19, 2003. The flag bears three horizontal stripes and features a blue canton containing a ring of 13 white stars that encircle the state's gold-colored coat of arms. The ring of stars that encompass the state's coat of arms represents Georgia as one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
The national flag of the Philippines is a horizontal bicolor flag with equal bands of royal blue and crimson red, with a white, equilateral triangle at the hoist. In the center of the triangle is a golden-yellow sun with eight primary rays, each representing a province. At each vertex of the triangle is a five-pointed, golden-yellow star, each of which representing one of the country's three main island groups—Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The white triangle at the hoist represents liberty, equality, and fraternity. A unique feature of this flag is its usage to indicate a state of war if it is displayed with the red side on top, which is effectively achieved by flipping the flag upside-down.
"In God We Trust" is the official motto of the United States as well as the motto of the U.S. state of Florida, and Nicaragua. It was adopted by the U.S. Congress in 1956, replacing E pluribus unum, which had been the de facto motto since the initial design of the Great Seal of the United States.
The flag of the State of Israel was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. It consists of a white background with a blue Star of David in the centre and two horizontal blue stripes at the top and bottom, recalling the design of the tallit (טַלִּית). The Israeli flag legislation states that the official measurements are 160 × 220 cm. Therefore, the official proportions are 8:11. Variants can be found at a wide range of proportions, with 2:3 being common.
Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, 542 U.S. 1 (2004), was a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The lawsuit, originally filed as Newdow v. United States Congress, Elk Grove Unified School District, et al. in 2000, led to a 2002 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance are an endorsement of religion and therefore violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The words had been added by a 1954 act of Congress that changed the phrase "one nation indivisible" into "one nation under God, indivisible". After an initial decision striking the congressionally added "under God", the superseding opinion on denial of rehearing en banc was more limited, holding that compelled recitation of the language by school teachers to students was invalid.
The flag of Louisiana consists of a rectangular field of blue with the arms of Louisiana, a pelican vulning herself, in white in the center, with a ribbon beneath, also in white, containing in blue the state motto: "Union Justice Confidence". The flag was officially adopted July 1, 1912, and is often referred to as the Pelican flag.
Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held, 5–4, that burning the Flag of the United States was protected speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as doing so counts as symbolic speech and political speech.
"Separation of church and state" is a metaphor paraphrased from Thomas Jefferson and used by others in discussions regarding the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
The Christian Flag is an ecumenical flag designed in the late 19th century to represent much of Christianity and Christendom. Since its adoption by the United States Federal Council of Churches in 1942, it has been used by congregations of many Christian traditions, including Anglican, Baptist, Congregationalist, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Moravian, Presbyterian, and Reformed, among others.
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States has been criticized on several grounds. Its use in government funded schools has been the most controversial, as critics contend that a government-sanctioned endorsement of religion violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Arguments against the pledge include that the pledge itself is incompatible with democracy and freedom, that it is a form of nationalistic indoctrination, that pledges of allegiance are features of current and former totalitarian states such as Nazi Germany, and that the pledge was written to sell flags.
The following is a timeline of the flag of the United States.
The 2020 Mississippi flag referendum was a legislatively referred state statute appearing on the November 3, 2020 general election ballot in Mississippi.
