Alaska State Symbols

Alaska! If any state merits exciting state symbols, this is it.

Just listening to Alaska’s nicknames can be exciting: The Great Land, The Last Frontier, Land of the Midnight Sun. They are a reminder that Alaska is the biggest and wildest state.

Alaska, The Last Frontier

That last nickname recalls the fact that, in summer, the sun sometimes never sets north of the Arctic Circle. It’s daylight at midnight!

In winter, things get very dark. Some people then jokingly call Alaska Land of the Noon Moon.

Alaska’s winter skies are sometimes lit up by the aurora borealis, better known as the northern lights. The northern lights shimmer like a heavenly curtain. They can be yellow, green, red, blue, violet, orange or white. This famous light show is depicted on Alaska’s state seal. (Continued below)

Nicknames & Slogans
Nicknames The Last Frontier, Land of the Midnight Sun, The Great Land  
Symbols of State
Motto North to the Future 1967
Song Alaska’s Flag 1955
EcoSymbols
Flower forget-me-not (Myosotis alpestris) 1955
Tree Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) 1962
Bird willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) 1955
Land Mammal moose (Alces alces) 1998
Marine Mammal bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) 1983
Dog Alaskan Malamute (Canis lupus familiaris) 2010
Fish king salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) 1962
Insect four spot skimmer dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata) 1995
Mineral gold 1968
Gem jade 1968
Fossil † woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) 1986
Soil Tanana (unofficial) Unofficial
Cultural Symbols
Sport dog mushing 1972
Language English + 20 2014
Bolt-Action Rifle Pre-1964 Winchester Model 70 bolt-action rifle (multiple caliber) 2014

The introduction at the top of the page is excerpted from My State Symbols Book. The symbols listed in the table above are linked to pages on my master symbols site, Geobop’s Symbols.

You can learn still more about the symbols of the 50 states in the books Flag Quest, Grading the States, and—if you’re really hard core—Geobop’s State Symbols.

After you spend some time exploring Alaska’s symbols, you can come back here and tell us what you think about the symbols of our Last Frontier.