NEW MEXICO

State of New Mexico

ORIGIN OF STATE NAME: Spanish explorers in 1540 called the area "the new Mexico." NICKNAME: Land of Enchantment. CAPITAL: Santa Fe. ENTERED UNION: 6 January 1912 (47th). SONGS: "O Fair New Mexico" and "Así Es Nuevo México." MOTTO: Crescit eundo (It grows as it goes). FLAG: The sun symbol of the Indians of Zia Pueblo appears in red on a yellow field. OFFICIAL SEAL: An American bald eagle with extended wings grasps three arrows in its talons and shields a smaller eagle grasping a snake in its beak and a cactus in its talons (the emblem of Mexico; and thus symbolic of the change in sovereignty over the state). Below the scene is the state motto; the words "Great Seal of the State of New Mexico 1912" surround the whole. ANIMAL: Black bear. BIRD: Roadrunner (chaparral bird). FISH: Cutthroat trout. FLOWER: Yucca (Our Lord's Candles). VEGETABLES: Frijol; chile. TREE: Piñon pine. FOSSIL: Coelophysis dinosaur. GEM: Turquoise. LEGAL HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., 3rd Monday in January; Lincoln's Birthday, 12 February; Washington's Birthday, 3rd Monday in February; Memorial Day, 30 May; Independence Day, 4 July; Labor Day, 1st Monday in September; Columbus Day, 2nd Monday in October; Veterans Day, 11 November; Thanksgiving Day, 4th Thursday in November; Christmas Day, 25 December. TIME: 5 AM MST = noon GMT.