State Symbols

State Animal:  Badger

State Wildlife Animal:  White-tailed Deer

State Domestic Animal:  Dairy Cow

State Dog:  American Water Spaniel

State Fish:  Muskellunge

State Insect: Honey Bee

State Flower:  Violet

State Tree:  Sugar Maple

State Grain:  Corn

State Mineral:  Galena

State Rock:  Red Granite

State Fossil:  Calymene Celebra

State Beverage:  Milk

State Song: "On Wisconsin"

State Dance:  Polka

State Symbol of Peace:  Mourning Dove

Motto:  Forward

Origin of State Name:  The name is derived from the French version of an Ojibwa term that may mean "gathering of the waters" or "place of the beaver."

Nickname for State:  The Badger State.  The name refers to miners, among the state's first settlers, who lived in mine shafts or dug their homes out of hillsides, as badgers do.

Nickname for residents:  Wisconsinites