The Goldfinch is five inches tall with black, white and yellow feathers. It lives in fields, forest edges, grasslands and suburbs. It has a song that sounds like a canary. It makes a “perchicoree” call when flying around its territory. The Goldfinch is known for being kind and graceful. The Goldfinch is important to the state of Iowa because you can find a lot of them in Iowa. They often stay through the winter instead of flying south like most birds. The Iowa House of Repressive voted for it to be the state bird. The Goldfinch was adopted on March, 22,1933.

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Iowa’s state flower is the Wild Rose. The Wild Rose is twelve inches (1 foot) tall with pink and purple petals. It grows in the springtime just like other flowers. It has a sweet smell like most roses. The Wild Rose is important to the state of Iowa because the senate asked the Iowa federation of the Women’s Clubs for advice about naming a state flower. They voted to select the Wild Rose as Iowa’s state flower. The Wild Rose became the state flower of Iowa on May 7, 1897.   

The Oak tree is 6 to 30 meters tall with green leaves. It grows in forests with good soil. The Oak is known for being a good home for animals, nesting cover for birds, and can be used for construction lumber and railroad ties. The Oak is important to the state of Iowa because it is abundant and serves as shelter and food for animals. The oak became the state tree of Iowa on March 13, 1961.

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The Iowa state flag has a white background with an eagle holding a ribbon in its mouth. On each side of the flag there is a red and a blue stripe--blue on the left side and red on the right side. Mrs. Dixie C. Gebhard, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution had suggested the blue, white, and red from the French flag to show that Iowa had been a French colony before the Louisiana purchase.
The color white was also chosen to represent the unwritten page of history at the state’s beginning when the first Native Americans lived in Iowa’s prairies, and it represents purity. Blue also represents loyalty, justice, and truth. Red also represents courage.

The eagle holding the ribbon in its mouth is a symbol of the United States. The words on the ribbon say “Our Liberties We Prize And Our Rights We Will Maintain.” These words are Iowa’s state motto. The Iowa state flag was adopted in March 29, 1921

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