The nickname for Mississippi is The Magnolia State, and entered into Statehood on December 10, 1817. The Mississippi State Capital is Jackson, and the Mississippi State motto is virtue et armis, which means by valor and arms. The Mississippi State flower is the flower or bloom of the magnolia or evergreen magnolia (1952). The Mississippi State wildflower is the coreopsis (1991). The Mississippi State tree is the magnolia (1938). The Mississippi State bird is the mockingbird (1944). The Mississippi State song is “Go, Mississippi” (1962). The Mississippi State stone is petrified wood (1976). The Mississippi State fish is the largemouth or black bass (1974). The Mississippi State insect is the honeybee (1980). The Mississippi State shell is the oyster shell (1974). The Mississippi State water mammal is the bottlenosed dolphin or porpoise (1974). The Mississippi State fossil is the prehistoric whale (1981). The Mississippi State land mammal is the white-tailed deer (1974), red fox (1997). The Mississippi State waterfowl is the wood duck (1974). The Mississippi State beverage is milk (1984). The Mississippi State butterfly is the spicebush swallowtail (1991). The Mississippi State dance is the square dance (1995).