Massachusetts State Symbols

Massachusetts State Symbols — Complete List

	Category	Official Symbol	Adopted
	State Flag	Massachusetts State Flag	1908
	State Bird	Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus	1941
	State Flower	Mayflower Epigaea repens	1918
	State Tree	American Elm Ulmus americana	1941
	State Motto	Ense Petit Placidam Sub Libertate Quietem Latin	1775
	State Nickname	The Bay State	—
	State Cat	Tabby cat Felis catus	1988
	State Dog	Boston terrier Canis lupus familiaris	1979
	State Horse	Morgan horse Equus caballus	1970
	State Marine Mammal	Right whale Eubalaena glacialis	1980
	State Beverage	Cranberry Juice	1970
	State Colors	Blue, Green, and Cranberry	2005
	License Plate Slogan	The Spirit of America	1971
	State Seal	Great Seal of Massachusetts	1780

What Does Massachusetts Mean?

Massachusetts is one of the original thirteen states and became the 6th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on February 6, 1788. The existing nickname page traces the state name to the Massachusett people and gives the meaning as "at or about the great hill."

The Bay State nickname comes from Massachusetts Bay and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, founded in 1630. That nickname keeps the state's name tied to coast, harbor, fishing, shipping, and early colonial settlement.

Massachusetts's postal abbreviation is MA, and residents are usually called Bay Staters or Massachusetts residents. The state formally styles itself as a Commonwealth.

Newest and Oldest Symbols

What Massachusetts's Symbols Say About the State

Massachusetts's state motto is not genteel civic wallpaper. It came from Revolutionary defiance, Paul Revere's 1775 seal work, and Algernon Sidney's anti-tyranny language; the current seal and motto remain politically live because of redesign debates.

The American elm, mayflower, and black-capped chickadee keep the inland New England side visible: village greens, spring woodland flowers, and a small bird familiar through winter.

The right whale and cranberry juice point to two coastal economies with very different moral weight. One remembers a whaling past now turned toward conservation; the other comes straight from bog agriculture around Plymouth County and Cape Cod.

• Massachusetts Secretary of State
• Massachusetts General Court
• Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
• NOAA Fisheries

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