Discover the history, geography, and government of North Carolina.
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The Land and Its People | State Capitol | State Legislative Building | State Flag | State Song
Great Seal & Motto | State Name & Nicknames | State Emblems | Tar Heel Toast | Extant Lighthouses
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The Great Seal of the State of North Carolina is kept in the Governor’s Office and is used to make impressions upon official papers.

The state’s motto, Esse Quam Videri, may be translated, “To be rather than to seem.”

See how the Great Seal of North Carolina has changed over time.

Visit http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/ncgainfo/educational/StateSeal.html for a printable version of the Great Seal and Motto.

In 1629 King Charles I of England “erected into a province” all the land from Albemarle Sound on the north to the St. John’s River on the south, which he directed should be called Carolana. The name derives from the word Carolus, the Latin form of Charles. His son, Charles II, changed the name to Carolina when he granted the territory to the Lords Proprietors in 1663.

When Carolina was divided in 1712, the southern part was called South Carolina and the northern part, or older settlement, North Carolina. From this came the nickname “the Old North State.” Principal products during the early history of North Carolina were tar, pitch, and turpentine, collectively known as naval stores, of which the colony was the leading producer. Tar was so important to the economy that it eventually gave rise to the nicknames “Tar Heels” and “Tar Heel State,” but it was not until after the Civil War that the terms came into widespread use. Today, the latter nickname is more often used more.

What	Emblem	Year Adopted
Berries	Strawberry and Blueberry	2001
Beverage	Milk	1987
Bird	Cardinal	1943
Boat	Shad	1987
Carnivorous Plant	Venus Flytrap	2005
Colors	Red and Blue	1945
Community Theater	Thalian Association	2007
Dances	Clogging and the Shag	2005
Dog	Plott Hound	1989
Fish	Channel Bass	1971
Flower	Dogwood	1941
Freshwater Trout	Southern Appalachian Brook Trout	2005
Fruit	Scuppernong Grape	2001
Insect	Honey Bee	1973
Language	English	1987
Mammal	Gray Squirrel	1969
Military Academy	Oak Ridge Military Academy	1991
Reptile	Eastern Box Turtle	1979
Rock	Granite	1979
Shell	Scotch Bonnet	1965
Stone	Emerald	1973
Tartan	Carolina Tartan	1991
Tree	Pine	1963
Vegetable	Sweet Potato	1995
Wildflower	Carolina Lily	2003

For more information about official state symbols, go to http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/NC/symbols/symbols.htm.

Here’s to the land of the long leaf pine,
The summer land where the sun doth shine,
Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great,
Here’s to “Down Home,” the Old North State!

Lighthouse	Date	Location
Bald Head	1817/1818	Bald Head (Smith) Island
Bodie Island	1872	Bodie Island/Oregon Inlet
Cape Hatteras	1870	Lower Hatteras Island
Cape Lookout	1859	Cape Lookout/Beaufort Inlet
Currituck Beach	1875	Corolla
Oak Island	1958	Near Caswell Beach
Ocracoke	1823	Lower Ocracoke Island

* Extant = still in existence; not destroyed or lost