State
Bird
Cardinal
|
The cardinal is found throughout the eastern half of North America.
It is about 7 to 9 inches long and has bright red feathers. Male cardinals
are red with some gray on the back. The female Cardinal is a brownish
color and has a reddish color on its wings, tail, and crest. The cardinal's
song sounds like a flute. It was adopted as Ohio's state bird in 1933.
Top Of Page
|
State
Flower
Scarlet Carnation
|
Carnations
originally came from southern Europe, but there are several varieties
of carnations grown in the United States. They can bloom throughout
the year, depending on the climate of an area. The carnation is
a tall flower (1 to 3 feet high) with many lightly sweet smelling
blossoms. They are very popular and come in many colors such as
pink, purple, red, white, or yellow. The carnation was adopted as
Ohio's state flower in 1904.
Top Of Page
|
State
Tree
Buckeye
|
The Buckeye is a type of horsechestnut tree. It is a medium sized
shade tree that is about 70 feet tall. It is found from the southern
United States through southern Canada. It has thick gray bark and
narrow leaves that are about five to six inches long. The Ohio Buckeye
can produce beautiful white, red or yellow flowers and large shiny
brown seeds that look like the eye of a male deer. These seeds are
poisonous. The Ohio Buckeye tree was adopted as Ohio's state tree
in 1953.
Top Of Page
|
State Flag
Click
on flag to view larger image.
 |
The
Ohio State flag is the only one that is pennant-shaped. This shape
is also called a burgee. There is a large blue triangle on the left
which symbolizes Ohio's hills and valleys, and the stripes represent
roads and waterways. The first thirteen states are represented by
thirteen white stars inside the triangle. They surround a white ring,
which represents the Northwest Territory. Before Ohio became a state
it was part of a larger area of land known as the Northwest Territory.
This area was later divided into separate sections. They became the
states of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. The other
four stars to the right of the white ring add up to 17. The flag has
17 stars because Ohio is the 17th state. The white ring also stands
for Ohio's initial, and the red center reminds us of the buckeye seed,
which comes from the state tree. This flag was designed by John Eisenmann
and was adopted in 1902.
Top Of Page
|
|
