Part one of a two-part examination of the official symbols of the state of Alabama

The State of Alabama has numerous official emblems, symbols or designations that represent the state, its resources and its people.

We will examine several of those unique features to better understand what they mean to the residents of the state and, in doing so, we can explore the origins of the icons that embody Alabama. Several of the symbols each of us see everyday have become commonplace and often ignored because of that constant exposure.

Others are more obscure and often times the more interesting, based largely on our limited knowledge of them.

Two symbols of state pride that most Alabamians witness each day are the state seal and the state flag.

Great Seal of Alabama

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The Great Seal of Alabama began with the efforts of Territorial Gov. William Wyatt Bibb in 1817 when he selected a design that included a map of the state inclusive of the primary rivers in the territory. That map was surrounded by the territories to the north, south, east and west that bordered the future state.

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As Alabama became a state in 1819, the seal remained as designed. After the Civil War, the seal was redesigned with an eagle perched on the shield of the United States. The motto “Here We Rest” was written on a banner that was held in the beak of the eagle. That seal continued to be used until 1939, when the state legislature restored the original artwork of the Great Seal to that of the original design.

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Alabama State Flag

The Alabama State Flag was approved by the Alabama State Legislature in 1895. According to the information in that legislative act, the flag was designed as a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a white field. It has remained the state flag since.

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As a state that has been largely rural throughout its history, it is only logical that numerous representatives of flora and fauna have been featured as symbols of the state.

State bird

The state songbird, for example, is widely known by residents as one of the more recognizable state symbols. The Yellowhammer or Northern Flicker became the official state bird in 1927, through an act of the state’s legislative body. The Yellowhammer is a woodpecker and is described as having a gray-brown color with broken black bars on the body feathers with the yellow of the flight feathers partially visible. The undersides of the wings and tail are bright yellow.

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The history of the bird’s association with the state dates to the Civil War, when Confederate soldiers from Alabama were referred to as yellowhammers. That nickname can be specifically traced to a Huntsville cavalry company who wore bright yellow cloth on their sleeves, collars, and coattails of their uniforms.

State flower

Also very recognizable among Alabama’s symbols is the official state flower, the camellia. The official designation, however, of the state flower is not without some controversy.

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Initially, it was not the camellia that was designated the state flower, but the goldenrod. In 1927, a Montgomery legislator introduced a bill supporting the goldenrod as the state flower. The bill passed. In 1959, another act of the state legislature named the camellia as the state symbol. Finally, in 1999, the camellia became the official flower of the state.

Next week we will continue our look at the symbols of the State of Alabama; some commonly known and others more obscure.