Michigan's official flag was adopted in 1911. The flag has a deep blue background and pictures an elk and moose around a blue shield labeled "TUEBOR," meaning "I will defend." The shield pictures a man with a raised hand and a gun, a rising sun, a peninsula and lakes (representing Michigans geography). Over the shield is a bald eagle (holding an olive branch and a sheaf of three arrows) and a red ribbon reading "E PLURIBUS UNUM" (which is the motto of the U.S.A. and means "Out of Many, One" - this refers to the states of the United States being united into one country). Under everything lies two white ribbons that read "SI QUAERIS PENINSULAM AMOENAM" and "CIRCUM SPICE," which means, "If you are seeking a amenable (pleasant) peninsula, look around you."

Michigan was the 26th state in the USA.

Michigan became a state on January 26, 1837.

Michigan is the 8th biggest state in the USA.
(96,810 square miles WOW!!)

Origin of the Name Michigan - Named from the Chippewa Indian word "michigama", which translates into Great Lake

State Bird Robin

State Mammal White Tail Deer

State Stone Petoskey Stone

State Reptile Painted Turtle

State Fish Brook Trout

State Flower Apple Blossom

State Tree White Pine

State Gem - Chlorastrolite
(Isle Royal Greenstone)

State Insect Ladybug

Almost surrounded by four of the fresh water Great Lakes, Michigan is a unique state, divided into two peninsulas, and joined together by a suspension bridge, that spans the Straits of Mackinac.

This ancestral land of many American Indian tribes, was literally sculptured into its present shape by massive Ice Age glaciers.

Europeans began arriving in the 17th century, and for decades, the British, French and local Indian forces struggled for control. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris, finally awarded Michigan to the new United States.

The upstate logging and mining industries, and the automobile giants of Detroit, were built around the shipping lanes of the Great Lakes, and this tranquil midwestern state became an economic powerhouse in the 20th Century.

The Upper Peninsula is a beautiful, rugged, sparsely populated place, where severe winters are commonplace. The Lower Peninsula, home to most of the people, is dotted by small towns, large cities and fertile farmland in all directions.

The shorelines of Michigan are covered by over 115 lighthouses - their mission is to warn mariners of possible danger, and they do their job well. They also stand as proud beacons to the Michigan success-story, and this state's vital relationship with the wonders of the Great Lakes.

Major Industries - car manufacturing, farming (corn, soybeans, wheat), timber, fishing


Shoreline (Great Lakes) 3,288 miles, which is more than the entire eastern coastline of the United States

State Nickname - Wolverine State


State Motto - "Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circum spice" [If you are seeking a amenable (pleasant) peninsula, look around you]