National symbols of the United States

This article is a list of national symbols of the United States.

List of symbols

Symbol	Name	Image	References
Flag	Flag of the United States		[1]
Seal	Great Seal of the United States	(obverse) (reverse)	[2]
National bird	Bald eagle		[3]
National mammal	North American bison		[4][5][6]
National anthem	"The Star-Spangled Banner"		[7]
National motto (official)	"In God We Trust"		[8]
National motto (unofficial, appears on coinage)	"E pluribus unum"		[9]
National floral emblem	Rose		[10]
National march	"The Stars and Stripes Forever"		[11]
National tree	Quercus (oak tree)		[12]

See also

• Lists of United States state symbols

References

1. 4 U.S.C. § 1 ("The flag of the United States shall be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; and the union of the flag shall be forty-eight stars, white in a blue field."); § 2 ("On the admission of a new State into the Union one star shall be added to the union of the flag; and such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission.").
2. 4 U.S.C. § 41 ("The seal heretofore used by the United States in Congress assembled is declared to be the seal of the United States.").
3. A modified version of Charles Thomson's proposal for the Great Seal of the United States on June 20, 1782, with a bald eagle in the center, was adopted by the Continental Congress on June 20, 1782. Bruce E. Beans, Eagle's Plume: The Struggle to Preserve the Life and Haunts of America's Bald Eagle (University of Nebraska Press 1997), p. 59.
4. National Bison Legacy Act, Pub. L. 114-152, 130 Stat. 373 (approved May 9, 2016), § 3(a) ("The mammal commonly known as the 'North American bison' is adopted as the national mammal of the United States.")
5. "15 Facts About Our National Mammal: The American Bison". United States Department of the Interior. May 9, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
6. Harris, Gardiner (May 9, 2016). "Obama Signs Law Making Bison the First National Mammal". The New York Times. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
7. 36 U.S.C. § 301(a) ("The composition consisting of the words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem.").
8. 36 U.S.C. § 302 ("'In God we trust' is the national motto.").
9. Frank S. Ravitch, Boris I. Bittker & Scott C. Idleman, Religion and the State in American Law (Cambridge University Press, 2015), p. 136 ("The nation's first unofficial motto was 'E pluribus unum' ('Out of many, one'), which was proposed in 1776, adopted in 1782, and to this day is part of the Great Seal of the United States. E plurbius unum first appeared in coinage in 1795 and in 1873 was required on all U.S. coinage...").
10. 36 U.S.C. § 303 ("The flower commonly known as the rose is the national floral emblem.").
11. 36 U.S.C. § 304 ("The composition by John Philip Sousa entitled 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' is the national march.").
12. 36 U.S.C. § 305 ("The tree genus Quercus, commonly known as the oak tree, is the national tree.").