State Symbols

State Animal:  White-tailed Deer

State Fish:  Bluegill

State Insect: Monarch Butterfly

State Flower:  Purple Violet

State Tree:  White Oak

State Fossil:  Tully Monster

State Mineral:  Flourite

Prairie Grass:  Big Bluestem

State Dance:  Square Dance

Motto:  State sovereignty, national union

Origin of State Name:  Illinois is named for the Illini, a confederation of Native Americans
from various tribes who lived in the region.

Nickname for State:  The Prairie State.  Much of Illinois consisted of prairie, a broad, open grassland, when Europeans first settled there.

Nickname for residents:  Illinoisans