The state of North Carolina has 42 official state emblems, as well as other designated places and events. The majority is determined by acts of the North Carolina General Assembly and record in Chapters 144, 145, and 149 of the North Carolina General Statutes.[1] The state's nicknames – "The Old North State" and "The Tar Heel State" – are both traditional, but have never been passed into law by the General Assembly.
The first symbol was the Seal of North Carolina, which was made official in 1871. The original seal also contained the future state motto. It served as the state's only emblem for 14 years until the adoption of the state flag in 1885. Enacted by law in 2013, the newest symbols of North Carolina are the state art medium, clay; the state fossil, the megalodon teeth; the state frog, the Pine Barrens tree frog; the state marsupial, the Virginia opossum; and the state salamander, the marbled salamander.
| Type | Symbol | Year | Image | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flag | "That the flag of North Carolina shall consist of a blue union, containing in the center thereof a white star with the letter N in gilt on the left and the letter C in gilt on the right of said star, the circle containing the same to be one-third the width of the union. The fly of the flag shall consist of two equally proportioned bars; the upper bar to be red, the lower bar to be white; that the length of the bars horizontally shall be equal to the perpendicular length of the union, and the total length of the flag shall be one-third more than its width. That above the star in the center of the union there shall be a gilt scroll in semi-circular form, containing in black letters this inscription 'May 20, 1775,' and that below the star there shall be a similar scroll containing in black letters the inscription: 'April 12, 1776.'" | 1885 | [2] | ||
| Motto | Esse quam videri ("To be, rather than to seem") | 1893 | — | [3] | |
| Nicknames | Old North State Tar Heel State | Traditional | — | [4] | |
| Seal | The Seal of North Carolina | 1871 (Revised in 1983) |
| Type | Symbol | Year | Image | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnivorous plant | Venus flytrap Dionaea muscipula | 2005 | [5] | ||
| Christmas tree | Fraser fir Abies fraseri | 2005 | [6] | ||
| Flower | Flowering dogwood Cornus florida | 1941 | [7] | ||
| Tree | Pine Genus Pinus | 1963 | [8] | ||
| Wildflower | Carolina lily Lilium michauxii | 2003 | [9] |
| Type | Symbol | Year | Image | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bird | Cardinal | 1943 | [10] | ||
| Butterfly | Eastern tiger swallowtail | 2012 | [11] | ||
| Dog | Plott Hound | 1989 | [12] | ||
| Fossil | Megalodon teeth | 2013 | [13] | ||
| Freshwater trout | Southern Appalachian brook trout | 2005 | [14] | ||
| Frog | Pine Barrens tree frog Hyla andersonii | 2013 | [15] | ||
| Horse | Colonial Spanish Mustang | 2010 | [16] | ||
| Insect | Western honey bee(Apis mellifera) | 1973 | [17] | ||
| Mammal | Eastern gray squirrel Sciurus carolinensis | 1969 | [18] | ||
| Marsupial | Virginia opossum Didelphis virginiana | 2013 | [19] | ||
| Reptile | Eastern box turtle | 1979 | [20] | ||
| Salamander | Marbled salamander Ambystoma opacum | 2013 | [21] | ||
| Saltwater fish | Channel bass | 1971 | [22] | ||
| Shell | Scotch bonnet | 1965 | [23] |
| Type | Symbol | Year | Image | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral | Gold Aurum | 2011 | [24] | ||
| Rock | Granite | 1979 | [25] | ||
| Stone | Emerald | 1973 | [26] |
| Type | Symbol | Year | Image | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art medium | Clay | 2013 | — | [27] | |
| Beverage | Milk | 1987 | [28] | ||
| Birthplace of traditional pottery | Seagrove Area | 2005 | [29] | ||
| Blue berry | Blueberry Vaccinium genus | 2001 | |||
| Colors | The red and blue of the North Carolina and United States flags | 1945 | — | [30] | |
| Folk dance | Clogging | 2005 | [31] | ||
| Fruit | Scuppernong grape Vitis genus | 2001 | |||
| Historical boat | Shad boat | 1987 | — | [32] | |
| Language | English language | 1987 | — | [33] | |
| Popular dance | Shagging | 2005 | — | ||
| Red berry | Strawberry Fragaria genus | 2001 | [34] | ||
| Song | "The Old North State" | 1927 | — | [35] | |
| Theatre | Flat Rock Playhouse | 1961 | [36] | ||
| Sport | Stock car racing | 2011 | [37] | ||
| Toast | The Tar Heel Toast | 1957 | — | ||
| Tartan | Carolina tartan | 1991 | < | -- violation: --> | [38] |
| Vegetable | Sweet potato | 1995 | [39] |