ARKANSAS MY HOME STATE |
Arkansas became the 25th state on June 15, 1836. Officially known as the natural state because of its natural beauty, clean lakes, and streams full of fish and abundance of natural wildlife.
Our state flag was adopted in 1913 and designed by Miss Willie K. Hocker. The 25 stars stand for Arkansas being the 25th state admitted to the United States. The diamond shape of the stars represent Arkansas being the only diamond producing state in the union. The Arkansas flag is the same colors as the American flag red, white. and blue. The apple blossom was adopted as the Arkansas State Flower by the general assembly of 1901. Apple blossoms have pink and white petals and green leaves. At one time Arkansas was a major apple-producing state. The town of Lincoln in Washington County hosts the annual Arkansas Apple Festival.
The Mocking Bird was elected as the state bird by the general assembly of 1929. This bird can and often does imitate the songs of other birds, thus giving it it's name.
The pine was adopted as the Arkansas state tree by the general assembly of 1939. The loblolly and short-leaf pine are varieties of southern yellow pine found in our state. Both varieties may grow to be over 100 feet tall and can be found in our two national forests-- The Ouachita National Forest and the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest. The diamond was adopted as the Arkansas State Gem by the general assembly of 1967. Arkansas is the only diamond-producing state in the United States. The crater of Diamonds State Park, located in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, is the only place in the nation where you can dig for diamonds and keep what you find. More than 70,000 diamonds have been found there.