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On March 25, 1863, Wisconsin adopted a blue flag bearing the state coat of arms on the obverse side and the national arms on the reverse. When the flag was readopted on April 29, 1913, the Wisconsin arms appeared on both sides. Many were unhappy that the Wisconsin flag could not be easily distinguished from other state flags, owing to its use of the most popular American design pattern--a blue field with a central state emblem. Therefore, in 1979 the flag underwent further modification: the name of the state was added above the arms, and its date of admission to the Union (1848) was inscribed below.
The coat of arms in its present form dates from 1881, although the basic design had been adopted 30 years earlier. The U.S. motto "E pluribus unum" ("One out of many") and national shield appear in the center, surrounded by symbols of typical 19th-century occupations--farming, mining, manufacturing, and shipping. A miner and sailor serve as supporters to the shield, above which appears a crest honoring "the Badger State," a nickname adopted because early miners in Wisconsin either lived in mine shafts or dug burrowlike huts resembling badger holes. Immediately above the badger crest is a scroll with the state motto, "Forward." Below the shield are a cornucopia and a pyramid of triangles representing ingots of lead. |
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Wisconsin
Official name: State of Wisconsin.
State nickname: the Badger State (unofficial).
Total area: 65,499 sq mi, 169,643 sq km.
Population (2000): 5,363,675.
Population by race, origin (1997): white non-Hispanic 90.5%; white Hispanic 2.2%; black (including Hispanic) 5.5%; American Indian/Eskimo/Aleut 0.3%; Asian/Pacific Islander 1.5%.
Natural increase rate per 1,000 population (1995): 4.4 (U.S. avg. 6.0).
Gross domestic (state) product (1996): U.S.$139,200,000,000 (U.S.$27,050 per capita).
Land use (1992): federal land 5.3%; non-federal land 94.7%, of which forest 38.8%, cropland 31.3%, pasture 8.5%, rangeland 0.0%, urban and built-up areas 6.8%, other 9.3%.
Exports by state (1997): U.S.$10,125,000,000; percent of national total 1.64%.
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