What is a national symbol?

A national symbol is an object, image, or design that officially or by long tradition stands for the United States as a whole and embodies its identity, values, or history. The federal government recognizes a number of national symbols by law, by executive order, or by long-standing usage.

The flag of the United States, also called the Stars and Stripes, is established by law in 4 U.S.C. sections 1 through 10. The Great Seal of the United States, with its bald eagle, shield, olive branch, arrows, and motto E Pluribus Unum, was adopted by the Continental Congress on June 20, 1782 and codified at 4 U.S.C. section 41. The bald eagle is the national bird, designated by statute on December 24, 2024 (Public Law 118-313) after more than two centuries as the de facto national bird since the 1782 Great Seal. The American buffalo (bison) is the national mammal, designated by the National Bison Legacy Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-152). The rose is the national floral emblem, designated by Public Law 99-449 of November 20, 1986. The oak is the national tree, designated by Public Law 108-184 of December 16, 2003.

The Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem, codified at 36 U.S.C. section 301. In God We Trust is the national motto, codified at 36 U.S.C. section 302. E Pluribus Unum, while no longer the official motto, remains a national motto in the broader sense and appears on the Great Seal and most U.S. coins.

Other symbols, including the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, Uncle Sam, the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Mount Rushmore, are widely recognized as national symbols by tradition and use, though not all are formally designated.

National symbols appear on currency, on government buildings, on military uniforms and insignia, on ambassadorial credentials, on naturalization certificates, in school classrooms, in courtrooms, and at every official ceremony. Federal law (18 U.S.C. section 713 for the Great Seal, 4 U.S.C. for the flag, and other statutes) restricts the unauthorized use of certain national symbols for commercial or deceptive purposes, although their use in expressive speech is protected by the First Amendment.