Gold is the dominant theme of California’s symbols. The Golden State’s official motto is Eureka, which translates “I have found it,” a reference to the discovery of gold. References to gold mining appear on the state seal. California’s state flag recalls the gold-inspired Bear Flag Revolt that wrested the region from Mexico. The state colors are blue and gold, and one of America’s best known landmarks is San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. California recently designated Bodie its official gold rush town.
Even California’s official plants and animals have a golden hue. The state flower is the golden poppy, which spreads across the land in living sheets of gold. (Inspired by California poppies, Spanish sailors reportedly nicknamed the region La Tierra del Fuego, or “Land of Fire.”) The state fish is the golden trout. The state insect, the California dog-face butterfly, is decorated with gold. What else could the state mineral be but gold?
Spectacular Nature
But not all that glitters is gold. California designated the largest living things — the coast redwood and giant sequoia — as its official trees. Its largest animal symbol is the gray whale, known for its annual north-south migrations past coastal hills ablaze with California poppies.
Like the poppy, the California quail and California grizzly (state bird and mammal) are named for the state. Sadly, the grizzly emblazoned on the state flag no longer survives in California. Its fate was sealed by the gold rush of 1848.
The desert tortoise is a reminder that not all of California is clothed in forests or California poppies. California became the first state to legally adopt both a state reptile and state insect in 1972, signed into law by Governor Ronald Reagan. (Oklahomans adopted an official reptile a few years earlier but forgot to make it legal.)
Other symbols of nature include purple needlegrass (state grass), garibaldi (marine fish), San Joaquin soil, the saber-toothed cat Smilodon (fossil), benitoite (gemstone) and serpentine (rock). An effort to adopt a state mollusk ended in something of a standoff between the abalone and the land-loving banana slug.
Cultural Symbols and Beyond
In recent years, California has adopted a number of official cultural symbols, including two state dances (the square dance and West Coast swing) and an official theater, drum band, poet laureate, museum, tartan, tall ship and language (English). One of my favorites is the chipped stone bear, which was designated the official prehistoric artifact.
But none of these symbols is as well known as California’s unofficial symbols. The third biggest and most populous state in the world’s most powerful nation is a global symbol of the good life. Disneyland and Hollywood are international symbols of fun and fantasy, and the San Diego Zoo may be the world’s most famous. Surfing might be considered the unofficial support, the skateboard the unofficial vehicle and sunglasses the unofficial head gear.
One of the most multicultural states, California is also among the most liberal. Many conservatives deride it as America’s “Left Coast.” Recent events suggest that future political campaigns will be dominated by actors. (Hopefully, most of them will be better than Rambo.)
San Francisco will forever be associated with the heady 1960’s, and what city could be more laid back than Los Angeles, better known as LA?
Spoiled by success, California has also become known as Paradise Lost. But its sunny symbols recall a golden past and the hope extended by the tolerance and creativity for which California is so well known.
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