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A member of the orchid family, the pink and white lady-slipper is one of Minnesota’s rarest wildflowers. They bloom in late June or early July, and it takes between four and 16 years before the plant produces a flower. Under the right conditions, lady-slippers can live for more than 100 years. The pink and white lady-slipper can grow to a height of three feet and is the tallest of the state’s lady-slippers Legend
e don’t "pledge allegiance" to it, but many Minnesotans honor the state
flag as they do the United States flag.
The Minnesota state flag was
adopted by the state Legislature in 1893 when it accepted the design
submitted by Amelia Hyde Center of Minneapolis. The flag depicts the state
seal on a blue background. The seal shows a pioneer plowing the virgin
prairie and an Indian on horseback. At the top of the seal is the state
motto, "L’Etoile du Nord," or star of the north. Three dates on the flag
signify the establishment of historic Fort Snelling in 1819, the
acceptance of Minnesota as a state in 1858, and the adoption of the state
flag in 1893.
The original flag had two sides, blue on one side and
white on the other. But because the flag was so expensive to make, and
because it was easily damaged in high winds, the Legislature adopted the
one-sided, all-blue design in 1957. The idea was to make the flag more
cheaply to urge people to display it in preparation for the state’s
centennial in 1958.
A class of third-graders from South Terrace Elementary
School in Carlton, Minn., proved that. As an exercise to see how a bill
becomes law, they proposed that the blueberry muffin be designated as the
state muffin. |
In 1988, their bill, along with 314 others, was signed into law. The idea for the blueberry muffin bill arose in a social studies class when the third graders were studying the state’s symbols. They asked themselves a question: If Minnesota were to have a state food, what would it be? The answer they gave was the blueberry muffin. They reasoned that wild blueberries are plentiful and popular in northern Minnesota, and farmers from across the state grow wheat. The State Drink
The top three counties in Minnesota for milk production in 1999 were Stearns County with 1.1 billion pounds, Otter Tail with 531.5 million pounds, and Morrison with 479 million pounds. One gallon of milk weighs 8.6 pounds. In 1999, Minnesota farmers sold over $1.3 billion in milk. Generally, supermarket shoppers paid much less for milk in the U.S. than other countries. In 2000, a gallon of milk in the U.S. cost as much as $3.00. However, retail milk prices increase as farmers are paid more for producing milk. More than 80 percent of the milk produced in the state is used to make butter, cheese, ice cream, and yogurt. |
The
State
Muffin
A class of third-graders from South Terrace Elementary School in Carlton, Minn., proved that. As an exercise to see how a bill becomes law, they proposed that the blueberry muffin be designated as the state muffin. In 1988, their bill, along with 314 others, was signed into law. The idea for the blueberry muffin bill arose in a social studies class when the third graders were studying the state’s symbols. They asked themselves a question: If Minnesota were to have a state food, what would it be? The answer they gave was the blueberry muffin. They reasoned that wild blueberries are plentiful and popular in northern Minnesota, and farmers from across the state grow wheat. The State Fish
f all Minnesota’s state symbols, none is more eagerly sought after than the walleye — the official state fish. Every year in Minnesota, more than one million anglers take to the water on one of the state’s 1,700 walleye lakes in pursuit of the elusive walleye. In May 1965, the Minnesota Legislature adopted the walleye as the state fish. It was chosen for its value to both sport and commercial fishing.
The walleye gets its name from its eyes, which have a milky appearance like bluish-white marbles. But it’s known by a variety of other names, too — yellow pike, yellow perchpike, and yellow pickerel. Minnesota’s record walleye, caught in 1979 in the Sea Gull River at Saganaga Lake in Cook County, weighed 17 pounds, 8 ounces. | ||
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Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services Office • Government Series • State Symbols |
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The 19 stars on the flag symbolize Minnesota as the
19th state to be admitted to the Union after the original 13. The largest
of these stars is centered above the seal to symbolize the north star
state.
ust because you have to be 18 to vote in Minnesota
doesn’t mean you have to be that old to get a law passed.
n 1984,
the Legislature designated
