A president's lucky charm, a 10-year-old's letter: How Ohio's state symbols came to be
What embodies Ohio more than sipping on a glass of tomato juice under a buckeye tree while listening to "Hang on Sloopy?"
Nothing, according to Ohio lawmakers tasked with assigning the state symbols over the past century.
One of the little-known tasks of state legislators is approving new items that represent the state. Most recently, that meant elevating Dunkleosteus terrelli – nicknamed "Dunk" – to the prominent role of the state's fossil fish. (The state fossil was already taken by the Isotelus maximus trilobite, which has held the spot since 1985.)
Many of the state symbol slots are already taken – gemstone (Ohio flint, approved in 1965), state bicentennial bridge (Blaine Hill bridge in Belmont County, approved in 2002) and frog (bullfrog, approved in 2010.)
But there are still openings. Ohio has no state vegetable, dessert or alcoholic beverage. Alabama has already claimed Conecuh Ridge Whiskey as its state spirit and Puerto Rico has celebrated the Piña Colada since 1978.
Efforts to make the sugar cookie into Ohio's official state cookie stalled despite diligent lobbying efforts – and samples – from Sycamore Township's All Saints School's third-grade class.
But some lobbying efforts did prevail. Here's a look at how some of Ohio's state symbols came to be:
State motto: 'With God, all things are possible'
It started as a social studies assignment in 1958: 10-year-old Jimmy Mastronardo, flipping through the World Book encyclopedia, realized Ohio was the only state (of 48 at the time) without a motto.
Mastronardo, who lived in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Hartwell, wrote a letter to the editor in the Cincinnati Enquirer: "I am very proud of my state and think it should have a state motto like the other 47 states." He suggested a phrase his mother would often use to encourage him: "With God, all things are possible."
The idea took off. He testified at the Ohio Statehouse, registered as an official lobbyist and gathered 18,000 signatures, according to a 1998 Enquirer article. Ohio lawmakers approved the motto in 1959.
The motto, which comes from the Bible – Matthew 19:26 to be precise, wasn't without controversy. In 1997, the American Civil Liberties Union sued Ohio over the motto, saying the phrase violated the establishment clause, which prohibits favoring one religion over another – or religion over non-religion.
Federal court decisions went back and forth until ultimately, a full Sixth District Court of Appeals said the motto could stay.
"The motto is merely a broadly worded expression of a religious/philosophical sentiment that happens to be widely shared by the citizens of Ohio," the court wrote in 2001. "As such, we believe, the motto fits comfortably within this country's long and deeply entrenched tradition of civic piety."
State flower: Scarlet carnation
Ohio can thank superstitious President William McKinley for its state flower: the scarlet carnation.
McKinley, a Niles native, adopted the red carnation as his good luck charm after he was gifted one by a congressional opponent and friend, horticulturist L.L. Lamborn, during an 1876 debate. McKinley went on to win that race and wore the flower as a token for his remaining political career, which included Ohio governor and U.S. president.
McKinley kept vases of carnations at the White House and would gift them to visitors.
On Sept. 6, 1901, McKinley gave the red carnation on his lapel to a 12-year-old girl at the Buffalo Pan-American Expo, saying "I must give this flower to another little flower," according to a news report. Shortly after, an anarchist shot McKinley twice. He died eight days later.
In 1904, the Ohio Legislature approved the scarlet carnation as the state flower to honor McKinley.
Decades later in 1986, lawmakers would adopt the white trillium as Ohio's official wildflower, which is found in most, if not all, of the state's 88 counties.
State beverage: Tomato juice
When you think of sipping an ice-cold beverage in Ohio, you might think of one of its many craft beers or a nice northern Ohio wine. Ohioans drank a lot of vodka and whiskey during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
But in 1965, Ohio lawmakers made tomato juice the official state beverage of choice.
Although Ohio isn't the top producer of tomatoes in the United States – that crown goes to California, an Ohioan was important in the fruit's growth.
A.W. Livingston, of Reynoldsburg, helped popularize tomatoes in the late 1800s by developing larger, sweeter options. He spent two decades breeding his "Paragon" tomato to offer an alternative to the smaller, more sour tomatoes of the day, according to the Ohio History Connection. Reynoldsburg hosts an annual tomato festival in his honor.
If you think tomato juice is an uninteresting choice of state beverage, just know it could be worse. Indiana's official beverage is water.
More state symbols of Ohio
But the list doesn't stop there. Ohio also has a:
State flag: Ohio burgee
State bird: cardinal
State reptile: black racer
State animal: white-tailed deer
State amphibian: spotted salamander
State pet: shelter pet
State tree: buckeye
State prehistoric monument: Newark earthworks
Official historical architectural structure: barn
State artifact: Adena pipe
State native fruit: pawpaw
State song: “Beautiful Ohio”
State rock song: “Hang on Sloopy”
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why is Ohio's state flower the carnation? Learn more about state symbols
