Left to right: Milk, rodeo, frybread, kuchen, the fiddle and South Dakota’s invisible fishing museum combined are dwarfed by Mount Rushmore, the source of the state’s official nickname and motto.
South Dakota has around thirty official state symbols. They include some of America’s strangest symbols. (Continued below)
| Nicknames & Slogans | |||
| Nicknames | The Mount Rushmore State, Sunshine State, Coyote State, Blizzard State, Artesian State | 1980 | |
| Slogan | Great Faces, Great Places, | 1990 | |
| Symbols of State | |||
| Motto | Under God the People Rule | 1885 | > |
| Song | Hail, South Dakota | 1943 | > |
| EcoSymbols | |||
| Flower | American pasqueflower (Pulsatilla patens) | 1903 | > |
| Tree | Black Hills spruce (Picea glauca) | 1947 | > |
| Grass | western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii) | 1970 | > |
| Bird | ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchichus) | 1943 | > |
| Animal | coyote (Canis latrans) | 1949 | > |
| Fish | walleye (Sander vitreus) | 1982 | > |
| Insect | honeybee (Apis mellifera)  |
1978 | > |
| Mineral Stone | rose quartz | 1966 | > |
| Gemstone | Fairburn agate | 1966 | > |
| Jewelry | Black Hills gold | 1988 | > |
| Fossil † | Triceratops (Triceratops) | 1988 | > |
| Soil | Houdek | 1990 | > |
| Cultural Symbols | |||
| Bread | fry bread | 2005 | > |
| Dessert | Kuchen (Recipes) | 2000 | > |
| Nosh | Chislic | 2018 | > |
| Drink | milk, lac vacuum |
1986 | > |
| Sport | rodeo | 2003 | > |
| Fishing Museum | The Museum of Wildlife, Science and Industry located in the city of Webster | 2004 | > |
| Mining Museum | Black Hills Mining Museum in Lead | 2014 | > |
| Hall of Fame | The South Dakota Hall of Fame — Chamberlain | 1996 | > |
| Musical Instrument | fiddle | 1989 | > |
| Common Language | English |
1995 | > |
| Flag Pledge | 1987 | > | |
The nickname Coyote State was inspired by a horse, and the state bird was introduced from China. While various states have official minerals and/or stones, South Dakota has an official “mineral stone.” The state fishing museum didn’t even exist when it was adopted. Worst of all is Mt. Rushmore, a monument to four of America’s greatest racists blasted out of rock on Indian land.
Left: A tourist rides a jackalope at South Dakota’s Wall Drug. Right: A jackalope graces a whimsical Dakota state seal that appeared in the book (IR)Rational Parks. (Jackalope (left): By Mbailey – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 — commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6519774
Note: I modified this image, changing the background.)
The introduction above 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 South Dakota’s symbols, you can come back here and tell us what you think about the symbols of the Coyote State.
I was born and raised in West Dakota, so I have some strong opinions. I loved the prairie, and I deeply miss a way of life that has largely vanished.
That’s precisely why I hate South Dakota’s grotesquely ugly flag, which says nothing about South Dakota. Below is my vision of a new South Dakota flag.
