Georgia boasts even more official symbols than its exotic neighbor, Florida. They reflect a mixture of cultures and changing times. Some represent the South, others the Old World. Some Georgia symbols are wild species, others domestic.
The fruit that lends Georgia the nickname Peach State and the state flower (the Cherokee rose) are both native to Asia, similar to Florida’s orange. The peach is probably Georgia’s most familiar symbol, while the Cherokee rose has become an unofficial symbol of the Cherokee Indians.
The official vegetable and crop (the Vidalia sweet onion and peanut) originated in Asia and South America, respectively. (Of course, local varieties, such as Vidalia, are unique to Georgia.)
The lamest of Georgia’s symbols may be the honeybee, an European import that is tirelessly promoted as a state symbol by the honey industry.
Though it hasn’t followed Delaware’s or Rhode Island’s lead in adopting an official chicken (yet another Old World import), Georgia calls itself the Poultry Capital of the World, a title it could soon lose to Brazil.
Southern Symbols
Of course, “goobers” (peanuts) and peaches have become popular symbols of the South. But Georgia’s status as a southern state is perhaps best reflected by native species, such as its state tree and fish—the live oak and largemouth bass. The state game bird, the bobwhite, is a very popular bird in the South and beyond, similar to the tiger swallowtail, which serves as the official butterfly.
Other symbols that are popularly associated with the Appalachians as well as the South include the azalea, or rhododendron (the official wildflower), the brown thrasher (the state bird) and the gopher tortoise and green tree frog, adopted as the official reptile and amphibian.
Though it has no official land mammal, Georgia has officially adopted the cartoon character Pogo ’Possum, which is based on a caricature of the common Virginia opossum.
Marine Symbols
Georgia arguably has three marine symbols. It shares the right whale (the official marine mammal) with Massachusetts, the knobbed whelk (the state shell) with New Jersey.
Though generally collected on land, the origins of shark teeth (the state fossil) are obvious.
In addition, moss-draped live oaks are often associated with the beautiful barrier islands that lie along Georgia’s coast.
Earth Symbols
In addition to the shark tooth, Georgia is represented by quartz and staurolite, designated the official gem and mineral.
Georgia is also one of a growing number of states represented by a state soil. Georgia adopted a soil called Tifton.
Cultural Symbols
Georgia has roughly two dozen cultural or miscellaneous symbols, including about a dozen that focus on the arts, three that focus on food and two that focus on railroads. The lamest are the official folk dance and language. (Take a wild guess...you got it — the square dance and English.)
Not to be missed is the Turner County Peanut Monument, which nicely complements the official state crop and the state nickname Goober State. (You can probably learn about former president Jimmy Carter, who was a native Georgian and a peanut farmer, there, too.)
Flags on Georgians’ Minds
Several states in the South are represented by flags that commemorate the Civil War. More precisely, they recall the Confederacy; some are even based on the Confederate battle flag.
Not surprisingly, these volatile symbols provoke strong and strikingly different emotions in people, depending largely on their ethnic status and political leanings. Georgia was long at the center of this regional controversy because its state flag displayed the Confederate battle flag.
So Georgia finally adopted a new flag in 2001 before resurrecting an earlier design and adopting a modified version in 2003. This flag is based on the first national flag of the Confederacy, nicknamed the “Stars and Bars.”
In the other corner is “Georgia On My Mind,” one of the most beloved of state songs and perhaps the greatest healer among Georgia’s symbols. And perhaps no individual is more closely associated with the song than Ray Charles, the late Georgia-born recording artist, who performed it on March 7, 1979 before a joint meeting of the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives. It was adopted a few weeks later.
Georgia On My Mind
Melodies bring memories
That linger in my heart
Make me think of Georgia
Why did we ever part?
Some sweet day when blossoms fall
And all the world’s a song
I’ll go back to Georgia
’Cause that’s where I belong.
Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through
Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind.
Georgia, Georgia, a song of you
Comes as sweet and clear as moonlight through the pines.
Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you.
Georgia, Georgia, no peace I find
Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind.
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