Do any other countries, or states within a country, have this thing about State birds, State animals, State drinks, State cakes, etc. as America does?

gdec1

Australia and India are two that come to mind. For an example of India's state birds go to Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_state_birds Jun 19 06, 1:00 PM

Gnomon

Ireland has a "state symbol", the harp. Jun 19 06, 3:46 PM

Baloo55th

The UK has emblems for the constituent countries - rose for England, thistle for Scotland, etc, and there is Lancashire's Red Rose and Yorkshire's White Rose (not forgetting Liverpool's Liver Bird), but we don't call them Official anything. They're just traditional. Different areas have traditional things like Lancashire Hotpot (Liverpool's Scouse) and so on, but none of them have any Official status. In the case of the newer American States, it may be an attempt to gain 'traditional' things, but the older states have been around as long as many of the UK's traditions (don't tell the tourists, though...) Jun 19 06, 4:58 PM

davejacobs

I wasn't so much thinking of traditional symbols, but of the apparent need to pass actual laws about these things. Here's an example of something that boggled my mind a few years ago: • When Massachusetts schoolchildren petitioned the legislature to make the chocolate chip cookie the state cookie, it set off a firestorm because many people (including the governor) preferred Fig Newtons. Finally, in 1997 (Mass. Bill S-1716), the chocolate chip cookie became the official state cookie; the Fig Newton was unofficially declared the state “fruit cookie.” Is this anything more than obscure advertising, or does it fulfil a psychological need in Americans? Jun 20 06, 1:36 AM

lanfranco

It's often advertising, more or less. Not infrequently, some state legislator with constituents who produce a particular product will introduce a bill trying to make that product "official." Not long ago, I discovered that someone in my home state of Ohio had tried to get the hamburger designated the official state food. Why? Because the headquarters of both Wendy's and White Castle (fast- food companies for you non-Americans) are located in Ohio. That seemed to be the only reason, because there is otherwise no special connection between Ohio and hamburgers. Jun 20 06, 8:21 AM

aussiebaby16

In australia each state has a state flower, state animal and a bird , a flag, a coat of arms, a state motto and a nickname. Jul 04 06, 7:43 PM