South Dakota State Symbols

South Dakota State Symbols — Complete List

	Category	Official Symbol	Adopted
	State Flag	South Dakota State Flag	1909
	State Bird	Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus	1943
	State Flower	American Pasqueflower Pulsatilla patens	1903
	State Tree	Black Hills Spruce Picea glauca	1947
	State Motto	Under God the People Rule English	1889
	State Nickname	The Mount Rushmore State	1992
	State Animal	Coyote Canis latrans	1949
	State Beverage	Milk	1986
	State Colors	Blue and Gold	1909
	License Plate Slogan	Great Faces Great Places	1992
	State Seal	Great Seal of South Dakota	1889

What Does South Dakota Mean?

South Dakota and North Dakota both joined the Union on November 2, 1889. Dakota comes from the Dakota people and is commonly translated as friend or ally.

The South in the name records the division of Dakota Territory, but the symbols tell a more complicated story. The prairie pheasant and pasqueflower sit beside Black Hills spruce and a Mount Rushmore nickname that comes from the state's western granite country.

South Dakota's postal abbreviation is SD, and residents are South Dakotans. Mount Rushmore State supplies the guide's best-known nickname.

Newest and Oldest Symbols

What South Dakota's Symbols Say About the State

The Mount Rushmore State nickname can dominate South Dakota's image, but the hub is not only monument-driven. The ring-necked pheasant keeps the guide rooted in grassland and hunting culture.

The Black Hills spruce is the counterweight to the prairie symbols. It points to the forested hills, Lakota sacred geography, mining history, and tourism landscape in the western part of the state.

The coyote adds a plains animal with more edge than a tame emblem would have, while the American pasqueflower keeps spring prairie in the picture.

• South Dakota Legislature
• South Dakota Secretary of State
• South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks
• South Dakota State Historical Society

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