GeoSymbols:

From the United States’ bald eagle to the Russian bear and the British lion, animals are among the most powerful symbols. Some have been officially adopted, but many don’t require such formalities. Some became grounded in myth and tradition centuries ago, including such mythical creatures as the dragon and unicorn. These older symbols are especially likely to be depicted on flags and coats of arms.

Birds are the most common official animal symbols. Every U.S. state has an official bird, as do all of Canada’s provinces territories, Australia’s states and Japan’s prefectures. Many nations also have official birds.

Next in importance are mammals. Most states have an official mammal (often designated the official “animal”). A few mammals have also been adopted by jurisdictions in Canada, Australia and Japan. National mammals include the beaver (Canada), moose (Norway) and Baird’s tapir (Belize).

Cold-Blooded Symbols

Many U.S. states have also adopted official reptiles, amphibians, fishes, insects, mollusks or crustaceans. However, such symbols are very rare in other nations; Japan and Latvia are probably the only nations in the world with national insects.

Animals are also prominent among the official fossils that have been adopted by most U.S. states. They include dinosaurs, Ice Age mammals and marine invertebrates. Note that prehistoric animals contributed to the formation of the underground pools of oil that have become such a powerful symbol in their own right. Who could have thought that dinosaurs would one day be linked to political intrigue, global warming and terrorism?

Evolutionary Symbols

Animal symbols are not a finished story. On the contrary, new symbols are adopted each year. Various U.S. states have adopted bats, cave salamanders, and at least one spider. And it’s probably just a matter of time before some nation unfurls a new flag, emblazoned with yet another animal that has captured people’s hearts and minds.

Find that Animal!

GeoSymbols offers information about various symbols from different perspectives. It does this by featuring symbols in as many as four different sections, World, Topics, EcoSymbols and Reference.

For example, suppose you’re interested in reading about the moose, which has been adopted as a symbol by two states and one nation. Below are some of the pages that might include information about this symbol of the boreal forest...

Visit the World section for articles about specific symbols, such as Norway’s national animal (the moose). For more general information about the moose as a symbol, including any nations or states that might have adopted it, visit the Topics section. The Reference section features of lists of symbols, such as national and state mammals. The EcoSymbols section simply classifies plants and animals, listing the places where each species or group serves as a symbol but featuring little or no additional information.

Let’s see another example, this one focusing on a plant. But instead of focusing on a particular species, let’s offer a much broader designation: conifers, or evergreen trees.

This time, I omitted the World section because no nation or state has designated all conifers a symbol. Many places have adopted particular species of conifers, and a few make broader designations (e.g. the “southern pine”), but that’s about as far as it goes.

In this case, the best source of information is probably the first three articles listed after Topics—Plants, Conifers and Trees. The two pages listed after EcoSymbols might also help you get your bearings.

Once you understand what a conifer is, you might be able to identify some of the conifers listed on the other pages listed above. (Canada, the United States and Japan have all adopted many conifer symbols.

Unfortunately, this project still isn’t finished. However, I have been working on a variety of features that either list only links to pages that are finished or identify which links lead to finished pages.

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