Ha. Florida has a state soil - Myakka fine sand.
Top(soil) that!
These are the symbols of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania according to the December 1999 Pennsylvania Manual:
Flower: Mountain Laurel (1933)
Tree: Hemlock (1931)
Bird: Ruffed Grouse (1931)
Animal: Whitetail Deer (1959)
<deep breath>
Dog: Great Dane (1980)
Fish: Brook Trout (1970)
Song: “Pennsylvania” (1990)
Insect: Firefly {no, not RT} (1974)
Beverage: Milk (1982)
Flagship: US Brig Niagra (1988)
Conservation and beautification plant: Penngift crownvetch (1982)
Fossil: Phaecops rana (1988)
Steam Locomotive: PA Railroad K4s (1987)
Electric Locomotive: PA Railroad GG1 Number 4859 (1987)
Zap
I’ve always wondered about Puerto Rico’s motto. {url=“http://www.50states.com/puerto.htm”]‘Iohannes est nomen eius’ in Latin or ‘Juan es su nombre’ in Spanish., which means John is his name. Wha-ha?
It represents the name of John the Baptist–
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/8070/shield.htm
[Monty Python]Do what, John; do what John; come again, do what{/Monty Python]
Yeah, the state motto for Maryland is real. I think it drew some fire recently, actually.
The state sport is jousting, can you beat that? Heh. Pretty funky.
The state song is great, too. You sing it to the tune of “Oh, Christmas Tree”. I don’t think that’s very popular these days either, though.
The Maryland motto is being changed. It, obviously, took some heat for being sexist. The Washington Post ran a reader’s contest to come up with a new motto. The winners were:
Maryland – Wait! We can explain.
Maryland – It looks better in the dark.
As you can tell, the contest wasn’t entirely serious.
I like Virginia’s motto: Sic Semper Tyrannis – Thus Always to Tyrants, accompanied by a picture of the goddess Virtus holding a spear standing on the dead body of a Tyrant whose crown has been knocked off his head. Beautiful.
Actually, I thought this was changed fairly recently (like in the last 2 years). The new one is “Pennsylvania: America Starts Here!” They’ve posted it on all the interstates as you cross the state lines.
More than a little weird, I think. Like, if you’re leaving Maryland and entering PA, guess what - you were never really in America yet. America just started here.
And it’s not like we have any substantial coastline or anything… just a really weird slogan. I’m sure it refers to the historical happenings in Philadelphia, but hey that was 200 years ago. Maybe if they say “America Started Here”.
But then, this is the same state that used “You’ve got a friend in Pennsylvania”, one of the only gramatically incorrect slogans in the US.
Well, I like the Maryland motto, quite honestly. It’s old- fashioned, and probably not PC, but it doesn’t bother me. It’s kind of cool that it is so blatantly old-fashioned. A little glimpse of history, as it were.
Michigan has some unofficial state mottos, too…
Michigan: Where We Only Have Two Seasons–Winter and Construction.
Michigan: Where You Ask For Ginger Ale, And Expect Vernors.
Michigan: Will The Last Person Out Of The State Please Turn Off The Lights?
–Persephone,
Michigan Born, Michigan Raised,
and still stuck here…
This talk of changing mottos reminds me of when I was living in Saskatchewan, where the licence plate motto was “The Wheat Province”, which seemed descriptive enough. When the government decided to change it, the paper held a contest for a new motto. The winners:
Saskatchewan: It’s a dry cold.
Saskatchewan: A place where no man can jump to his death.
Saskatchewan: Yours to drive through.
Saskatchewan: We are all related!
My personal favorite:
Saskatchewan: Sorry about that.
They changed the motto to “Land of the Living Skies” though, which means absolutely nothing to anybody.
Sorry about the hijack, as you were.
North Carolina’s motto is “To be rather than to seem.” I can’t remember what the Latin translation is though.
A few rejected state mottoes. 
Ummm…what does “(est?)” mean? Like, “established”? I’m not sure I get it.
Canada: A mari usque ad mare (From sea to sea)
Ontario: Ut incepit fidelis sic permanet (Loyal she began and loyal she remains)
Quebec: Je me souviens (I remember)
Nova Scotia: Munit haec et altera vincit (One leads and the other conquers)
New Brunswick: Spem reduxit (Hope was restored - refers to Loyalists who settled in NB after quitting the US during the Revolution)
British Columbia: Splendor sine occasu (Splendour without diminishment)
PEI: Parva sub ingenti (The small under the protection of the great)
Saskatchewan: Multis e gentibus, vires (From many peoples, strength)
Alberta: Fortis et liber (Strong and free)
Newfoundland: Quaerite prime regnum Dei (Seek ye first the kingdom of God)
Nunavut: Nunavut sanginivut (Nunavut our strength)
Manitoba, Yukon, and the NWT have no official mottoes.
Unofficial Minnesota Mottos:
30 Below - Uff da!
Minnesota - We Not Only Walk On Water, We Drive on it for 6 Months out of Each Year
Minnesota - At Least It Ain’t Wisconsin
Minnesota - The Chapped Lip State
Minnesota - The Top of the Mississippi River Sewer System
Minnesota - Our Governor’s Dumb, But At Least We Admit It
and finally, the signs that you read when you enter our state:
Welcome to Minnesota. You need treatment.
Ha!
Some of those are funny!
It looks better in the dark.hee hee
re: EST ehrhardt seminar training, in short, back whenm, you paid to sit in a big room while some guy yelled at you and wouldn’t let you pee.
There slogan was I found it!
Hi ThunderBunny!
Actually, “America Starts Here” was the last tourism campaign. The “Memories Last A Lifetime” slogan is being used on TV and in radio ads. The old slogan might be coexisting with it, maybe. I guess they haven’t gotten around to changing the signs yet; PennDOT is probably too busy tearing up I-81 to be bothered. 
A few years back when I was still living in Philadelphia one of the local radio stations ran a contest for a new tourism slogan for the city. My two entries were:
Philadelphia-Gateway to Bala Cynwyd
Philadelphia-Keeping Montgomery County From Having To Look At Camden since 1682.
Zap
Alaska - Where the men are men
and the women are too.
Kentucky’s is “United We Stand, Divided We Fall.”
I’ve been in Mississippi almost five years, and I have no clue what this state’s motto is. Go fig.
Welcome to Nevada- now leave!
Esse Quam Videri