Official symbols of the state are designated by act of the Tennessee General Assembly. The earliest state symbol was the first state seal, which was authorized by the original state constitution of 1796 and first used in 1802.[1] The current seal design was adopted in 1987.
The General Assembly also has officially designated a state slogan, "Tennessee—America at Its Best," adopted in 1965, and a state motto, "Agriculture and Commerce," adopted in 1987 and based on the words on the state seal.[1]
Tennessee's state flag, adopted in 1905, has three stars representing the state's three Grand Divisions: West, Middle, and East Tennessee. The designer was LeRoy Reeves of the Tennessee National Guard, who explained: "The three stars are of pure white, representing the three grand divisions of the state. They are bound together by the endless circle of the blue field, the symbol being three bound together in one – an indissoluble trinity."[2]
Tennessee's current state seal, adopted in 1987, is a modernized version of the seal originally designed in 1801. The seal features the words "Agriculture" and "Commerce" and the date of the state's founding. The number 16 appears as a Roman numeral, signifying that Tennessee was the 16th U.S. state. The theme of Agriculture is illustrated by images of a plow, a bundle of wheat, and a cottonplant, while the theme of Commerce is illustrated by an image of a riverboat.[1]
State tree
State tree - tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
In 1947 the tulip poplar was designated as the official state tree of Tennessee. The General Assembly act stated that it was chosen "because it grows from one end of the state to the other" and "was extensively used by the pioneers of the state to construct houses, barns, and other necessary farm buildings."[1]
Tennessee has two state flowers. The purple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is the state's wildflower and the iris is the state's cultivated flower.
In 1919, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a resolution providing for a state flower to be chosen by a vote of the state's school children, with the process to be overseen by a five-member commission. The resolution stated "That the flower which shall be named by the school children and certified by the commission shall be recognized as the State flower." Shortly after the resolution was enacted, a newspaper listed children's favorite flowers as including daisy, elder bloom, goldenrod, red clover, rose, sunflower, water lily, wild rose, and violet. However, after the votes were counted, the commission announced that the school children had selected the passion flower, making it the state flower.[3] The purple passionflower, called ocoee by the Cherokee and colloquially known as "maypop", is native throughout the state and was reported to be abundant.
By the early 1930s, flower gardening was growing in popularity, garden clubs were being organized, and Nashville had become known for the iris. Gardeners campaigned to have the iris designated the state flower, and in 1933 the General Assembly adopted a resolution stating "The State of Tennessee has never adopted a State Flower" and designating the iris as the "State Flower of Tennessee."[3]
Because the General Assembly had designated the iris as the state flower without rescinding the previous designation of the passion flower, the state essentially had two state flowers until 1973. In that year the General Assembly resolved the confusion by designating the passion flower the state wildflower and the iris the state cultivated flower.[4]
The act naming the iris as the state flower did not specify a particular color or variety of this diverse plant. However, according to the Tennessee Department of State the purple iris is generally considered to be the state flower.[5]
State fruit
State fruit - tomato
In March 2003, the General Assembly enacted chapter 154 of the Public Acts, designating the tomato as the official state fruit of Tennessee.[5] As of 2003, tomatoes were the state's largest fruit crop.[6]Grainger County and the Ripley area in Lauderdale County are principal areas for tomato production.[6] The legislation to designate the tomato was sponsored by state Representative Dennis Roach of Rutledge, in Grainger County.[7] No particular variety of tomato is specified.[7][8]
State food
Hot slaw was designated an official state food in 2024, by the 113th General Assembly.[9][10]
Tennessee has two state birds. The mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) was designated the state bird by the General Assembly in 1933. It had been selected earlier that year in an election conducted by the Tennessee Ornithological Society.[1]
The bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus), also known as the partridge, was designated as the official state game bird by the General Assembly in 1988.[1]
State fish
State sport fish - smallmouth bassState commercial fish - channel catfish
Tennessee has two state fish. The official state sport fish, designated in 2005, is the smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), a sought-after game fish.[11]
The state commercial fish, designated in 1988, is the channel catfish, Ictalurus lacustris, which is found in most Tennessee streams and many lakes and is widely stocked and reared in farm ponds.[1]
Tennessee has designated four different insects as official state symbols.
The firefly or lightning bug (Lampyridae family) and the insect known as ladybeetle, ladybug, or ladybird beetle, Coccinella septempunctata, were designated state insects by Public Chapter 292 of the Acts of 1975. The firefly species Photinus pyralis is the most familiar firefly species in the state.[1]
In 1990, Public Chapter 725 designated the honeybee (Apis mellifera) as the official state agricultural insect.[1]
Most recently, in 1995 the zebra swallowtail, Eurytides marcellus, was designated Tennessee's official butterfly by Public Chapter 896 of the 99th General Assembly.[1]
The Tennessee General Assembly has designated two different types of sedimentary rock as official state rocks.[1]
The agate was designated as the state's first official rock in 1969. A form of cryptocrystallinequartz (chalcedony) that is regarded as a semiprecious gemstone, agate is found in several areas in the state.[1] Collecting localities are found in Hawkins County (golden tone agate), Greene County (agatized oolites), Bedford County (carnelian, blue, ivory, pink, finely banded, dendritic, moss, iris and Fairburn style agate), and Shelby County (Lake Superior type agate and agatized corals and sponges).[13]
Limestone, common throughout the state, was declared the official state rock in 1979. Tennessee marble, a limestone quarried in East Tennessee, is used as a building stone.[1]
State fossil
Pterotrigonia thoracica was designated official state fossil in 1998, by the 100th General Assembly.[1]
State rifle
The Barrett M82/M107 was designated official state rifle in February 2016 by House Joint Resolution 231.[14][15]
State books
In 2024, ten literary works with varying degrees of connection to the Volunteer State were designated as official Tennessee state books:[16]
"Farewell Address to the American People" written by George Washington (1796)
"A Death in the Family", written by James Agee (1958)
"All the King’s Men", written by Robert Penn Warren (1947)
"American Lion," written by Jon Meacham (2009)
"The Civil War: A Narrative," written by Shelby Foote (1958-1974)
"Coat of Many Colors", written by Dolly Parton (2016)
State songs
In 2003, a resolution of the 103rd General Assembly designated songwriting as an official state art form.[1] In keeping with this designation, Tennessee has eleven official state songs:[1][17]
"Smoky Mountain Rain", a song written by Kye Fleming and Dennis Morgan that became a hit for Ronnie Milsap, was added to the list of state songs by the General Assembly on June 3, 2010, giving the state its eighth state song.[18][19] In the 2010 legislative session, the General Assembly also considered a resolution to designate "So I'll Just Shine in Tennessee" as a state song, but took no action on that proposal.[19]
"Tennessee", written by John R. Bean of Knoxville, was designated an official state song in 2011.[20]
"Copperhead Road", a song by Steve Earle about a man making moonshine and later growing marijuana in Tennessee, became a state song in 2023.[21]
Additionally, a rap song by Joan Hill Hanks of Signal Mountain, entitled "A Tennessee Bicentennial Rap: 1796-1996", was designated the state's "Official Bicentennial Rap" song in 1996. It was written "to provide a fun and easy way for citizens and students to learn and retain some of [the] state's history."[17]
In 1980 the General Assembly designated the square dance as the state's official state folk dance, which it described as "a uniquely attractive art form that remains a vibrant and entertaining part of Tennessee folklore."[1]
The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor is the only official in the Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state.
The Tennessee Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of Tennessee. The Supreme Court's three buildings are seated in Nashville, Knoxville, and Jackson, Tennessee. The Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, and four justices. As of September 1, 2023, the chief justice is Holly M. Kirby.
The Great Seal of Tennessee is the official government emblem of the U.S. state of Tennessee.
Mae Beavers is an American politician. A Republican, she was a member of the Tennessee Senate for the 17th district from 2003 until she resigned to run for governor in August 2017. The 17th district is composed of Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Macon, Smith, and Wilson counties. Prior to becoming a state senator, Beavers was a state representative in the 99th through the 102nd General Assemblies. She was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Tennessee in the 2018 Tennessee gubernatorial election.
The Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Tennessee. The party was founded in 1826 initially as the Jacksonian Party. The Tennessee Democratic Party was born out of President Andrew Jackson's populist philosophy of Jacksonian democracy in the mid to late-1820s. After Jackson left office, the Democratic Party struggled in the state as the Whig Party would go on to be the dominant party in Tennessee until its collapse after the 1852 Election. Prior to the Civil War, as a result of the collapse of the former Whig Party, the Democratic Party became the dominant party in the state. After the war ended, the Republican Party would be the dominant political party during Reconstruction, but once Reconstruction ended, the Democratic Party would dominate Tennessee Politics up until 2011 when the Republican Party would gain firm control of Tennessee State Government.
The Government of Tennessee is organized under the provisions of the 1870 Constitution of Tennessee, first adopted in 1796. As set forth by the state constitution, administrative influence in Tennessee is divided among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Tennessee:
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Tennessee may experience some legal challenges that non-LGBTQ residents do not. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in the state since 1996. Marriage licenses have been issued to same-sex couples in Tennessee since the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015.
John D. Ragan Jr. is an American politician. A Republican, he represents District 33 in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
William Byron Lee is an American businessman and politician who has served since 2019 as the 50th governor of Tennessee. A member of the Republican Party, Lee was president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Lee Company, a business operated by his family, from 1992 to 2016.
Jerry Sexton is a retired American politician who served as a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Sexton represented Tennessee House District 35, an area in East Tennessee consisting of Grainger, Claiborne, and part of Union counties from 2015 until his retirement following redistricting in 2023. Sexton would be succeeded by several representatives, including Rick Eldridge, Gary Hicks, and Dennis Powers, for Grainger, Claiborne, and Union counties respectively following the dissolution of District 35.
↑ Gordon T. Austin (1995), Chalcedony, in An Overview of Production of Specific U.S. Gemstones, U.S. Bureau of Mines Special Publication 14-95. U.S. Geological Survey website, accessed December 10, 2011.
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