List of Idaho state symbols

! width=12% | Type

! width=21% | Symbol

! width=49% class=unsortable | Description

! width=8% | Adopted

! width=10% class=unsortable | Image

| Idaho giant salamander

| The Idaho giant salamander (Dicamptodon aterrimus) is the largest salamander found in the state of Idaho, where it lives almost exclusively. Over their lifetime, these salamanders will metamorphose from a larva to a terrestrial adult, or will mature into an adult but retain the larval form, such as keeping gills, growing to lengths of 33 cm (~13 in). Idaho giant salamanders are generally found in moist coniferous forests and can change colors. The transformed adults are secretive and seldom found in the open, but can be found in moist areas.{{Cite web|title = Idaho State Emblems|url = http://www.sos.idaho.gov/emblems/|website = www.sos.idaho.gov|access-date = 2016-02-17|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160720013014/http://www.sos.idaho.gov/emblems/|archive-date = 2016-07-20|url-status = dead}}

| 2015

|

| Mountain bluebird
(Sialia currucoides){{cite web|url=http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/animals/bird/sicu/all.html|title=Sialia currucoides|publisher=United States Forest Service|access-date=January 23, 2010}}

| Adopted as the state bird by the Idaho Legislature in 1931, the mountain bluebird is one of two bluebird species found in the state. Known for their bright blue plumage, these migratory birds often arrive in Idaho in late February or early March, nest, then migrate south in September or early October.{{cite web|url=http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/sc/yankeefork/bluebirdhouse.shtml|title=Homes for Idaho's Bluebirds|publisher=United States Forest Service|access-date=January 23, 2010|year=2008}}

| 1931

| File:Mountain Bluebird.jpg, Idaho's state bird.]]

| Square dance

|

| 1989

| File:Western Square Dance Group.jpg, Idaho's state dance.]]

|Oryctodromeus cubicularis

|Oryctodromeus, a burrowing dinosaur that lived 98 million years ago, has been found in the Wayan Formation in Southeast Idaho, as well as Montana.Krumenacker, L. J., 2010. [https://lib.byu.edu/remoteauth/?url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/context/etd/article/3285/viewcontent/ETD_CISOPTR_2317.pdf Chronostratigraphy and paleontology of the mid-Cretaceous Wayan Formation of eastern Idaho, with a description of the first Oryctodromeus specimens from Idaho.] BYU MS thesis. It was proposed by students at Ucon Elementary and officially adopted on July 6, 2023{{Cite web |date=April 24, 2023 |title=Dino-mite: Dinosaur tied to national forest named Idaho state dinosaur |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/delivering-mission/apply/dino-mite-dinosaur-tied-national-forest-named-idaho-state |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425162050/https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/delivering-mission/apply/dino-mite-dinosaur-tied-national-forest-named-idaho-state |archive-date=2024-04-25 |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=US Forest Service |language=en}}

|2023

|File:Oryctodromeus.jpg

| Cutthroat trout
(Oncorhynchus clarkii)

| Native to Idaho, the cutthroat trout's name comes from the "distinctive red to orange slash" on the underside of its jaw. During an attempt to designate a state fish in 1988, critics of the cutthroat pointed out that the species was not found throughout the entire state. When the Legislature adopted the species in 1990, bill sponsor Mary Lou Reed called the cutthroat a "good symbol" of the state's "quality of life".{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hE4tAAAAIBAJ&pg=2715,1758877&dq=idaho+state+symbols&hl=en|title=Idaho Senate wants cutthroat as state fish|date=March 12, 1990|access-date=January 22, 2010|work=Moscow-Pullman Daily News|publisher=TPC Publishing}}

| 1990

| File:Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout.jpg, Idaho's state fish.]]

| Flag of Idaho

|

| 1957

| File:Flag of Idaho.svg, Idaho's state flag.]]

| Syringa
(Philadelphus lewisii)

| Documented and collected by Meriwether Lewis in 1806, the syringa was designated the Idaho State Flower in 1931.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

| 1931

| File:Lewis's Mock-orange NFUW - Umatilla NF Oregon.jpg, Idaho's state flower.]]

| Hagerman horse
(Equus simplicidens)

| The Hagerman horse (Equus simplicidens originally described as Plesippus shoshonensis) was declared the official state fossil of Idaho by the 1988 Legislature. A 3.5 million year old fossil bed near Hagerman, discovered in the 1920s, has yielded more than 30 complete horse skeletons and is said to be the "best known Pleistocene-epoch fossil site in the world". Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, specifically the Hagerman Horse Quarry,{{cite web|url=http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/paleontology/pub/grd3_3/hag1.htm|title=The Hagerman Horse Quarry: Death and Deposition|first1=Dean R.|last1=Richmond|first2=H. Gregory|last2=McDonald|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=January 23, 2010}} contains the largest concentration of these fossils.{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/hafo/index.htm|title=Hagerman Fossil Beds|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=January 23, 2010}}

| 1988

| File:Equus simplicidens mounted 02.jpg, Idaho's state fossil.]]

| Huckleberry

| Several huckleberry species are native to Idaho (all belonging to genus Vaccinium), the most popular of which are black or thin-leaved huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum). The berries are difficult to grow commercially, as they can take up to 15 years to reach maturity, grow at specific elevations, and attempts to transplant often end in failure.{{cite web|url=http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=78848|title=Wild huckleberry nearly tamed |date=July 7, 2005|first=Betsy Z.|last=Russell|work=The Spokesman-Review|publisher=Cowles Publishing Company|access-date=January 29, 2010}} However, attempts are underway to domesticate the berry. Students from Southside Elementary School proposed the huckleberry as the state fruit in 2000.

| 2000

| File:Vaccinium parvifolium 14911.JPG, Idaho's state fruit.]]

| Star garnet

| Star garnet, found only in Idaho and India, was designated as the state gem in 1967.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=T5UrAAAAIBAJ&pg=2169,3286133&dq|title='Garnet Queen' catches stars|first=Vera|last=White|work=Moscow-Pullman Daily News|date=April 4, 1989|access-date=May 21, 2011|page=1B|location=Pullman, Washington|volume=9|number=80}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8tszAAAAIBAJ&pg=7494,3997762&dq|title=Cities, Counties, Schools Get Financial Reassurance|work=The Spokesman-Review|date=February 11, 1967|access-date=May 21, 2011|page=24|volume=84|number=273}} Note: See "In Session Briefly" section.

| 1967

| File:Stargarnet.jpg, Idaho's state gem.]]

| Appaloosa

| The Appaloosa breed became the state horse in 1975 following an introduction to the Legislature by sixth grade students from Eagle, Idaho.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=u2RWAAAAIBAJ&pg=5029,4139116&dq|title=Huckleberry: Students ready to lobby for fruit|work=The Spokesman-Review|date=February 15, 2000|access-date=May 21, 2011|page=A5|volume=117|number=250}}

| 1975

| File:THIEL 619.jpg, Idaho's state horse.]]

| Monarch butterfly
(Danaus plexippus)

| The monarch became designated as the state insect after a bill proposed by fourth grade students at Cole Elementary in Boise was passed unanimously by State Senators.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JnAVAAAAIBAJ&pg=5333,4437448&dq=idaho+monarch+state+insect&hl=en|title=Democracy for monarchs|date=March 20, 1992|access-date=January 24, 2010|work=The Register-Guard|publisher=Guard Publishing}}

| 1992

| File:Monarch In May.jpg, Idaho's state insect.]]

| Esto perpetua

| Translating to "Let it be perpetual" or "It shall be perpetual", Idaho's official motto was designated soon after the state was admitted to the Union in 1890. The phrase Esto perpetua is attributed to the Venetian theologian Pietro Sarpi.{{cite web|url=http://www.idahohistory.net/Reference%20Series/0134.pdf|title=Idaho's State Motto|date=March 1970|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|access-date=January 22, 2010}} The motto appears on the state's seal and on its quarter as part of the 50 State Quarters program, which lasted 1999–2008.

| 1890

|

| Peregrine falcon
(Falco peregrinus)

| Adopted as the state raptor by the Legislature in 2004, the peregrine falcon has a global distribution and can be found on each continent apart from Antarctica. Boise is home to the World Center for Birds of Prey, the headquarters for The Peregrine Fund, a non-profit organization founded in 1970 that conserves threatened and endangered birds of prey.{{cite web|url=http://www.peregrinefund.org/mission.asp|title=The Peregrine Fund - Mission|access-date=January 29, 2010|publisher=The Peregrine Fund}} The peregrine falcon appears on the Idaho state quarter.

| 2004

| File:Peregrine Falcon 12.jpg, Idaho's state raptor.]]

| Seal of Idaho

| The Idaho Territory seal was adopted in 1863 and redrawn several times before statehood in 1890. The Great Seal was designed by Emma Edwards Green, the only woman to design a state seal. The seal depicts a woman, signifying justice, and a miner along with cornucopias, a pine tree, sheaf of grain, syringa, an elk's head, wheat and other imagery associated with the state.

| 1863

| File:Seal of Idaho.svg, Idaho's state seal.]]

| {{sort|Here We Have Idaho|"Here We Have Idaho"}}

| Music for the state song of Idaho was composed by Sallie Hume Douglas and copyrighted on November 4, 1915 under the name "Garden of Paradise". In 1917, University of Idaho student McKinley Helm wrote the verse which became the chorus, and Alice Bessee set the words to Douglas' music. The song, then known as "Our Idaho", became the university's alma mater. Albert J. Tompkins, director of music in the Boise Public Schools, wrote additional verses for the song, and in 1931 the Legislature designated "Here We Have Idaho" as the state song.

| 1931

| —

| Western white pine
(Pinus monticola)

| Adopted as a state symbol by the Legislature in 1935, western white pine is known for its "straight grain and soft even texture".{{cite web|url=http://gov.idaho.gov/fyi/symbols/symbols_index.html |title=Idaho State Symbols |publisher=Office of the Governor |access-date=January 22, 2010 |year=2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100630201842/http://gov.idaho.gov/fyi/symbols/symbols_index.html |archive-date=June 30, 2010 }} In the United States, the largest remaining volume of this timber grows in Northern Idaho.

| 1935

| File:Pinus monticola1.jpg, Idaho's state tree.]]

| Potato

| The nation's leader in production, Idaho has become synonymous with potatoes{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DfceAAAAIBAJ&pg=2993,101008&dq=idaho+state-vegetable&hl=en|title=It's official: Potato is Idaho's vegetable|date=March 2, 2002|access-date=January 24, 2010|work=Park City Daily News|publisher=News Publishing LLC}} Fourth grade students from Grand View Elementary school led the effort for the symbol in 2002, writing to all 105 lawmakers pushing for the bill.{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AJJXAAAAIBAJ&pg=5876,6110328&dq|title=Potato: Kids wrote to every lawmaker|work=The Spokesman-Review|date=February 8, 2002|access-date=May 21, 2011|page=B1, B2|first=Betsey Z.|last=Russell|volume=119|number=243}}

| 2002

| File:Russet potato cultivar with sprouts.jpg, Idaho's state vegetable.]]