NORTH CAROLINA

State of North Carolina

ORIGIN OF STATE NAME: Named in honor of King Charles I of England. NICKNAME: The Tar Heel State and Old North State. CAPITAL: Raleigh. ENTERED UNION: 21 November 1789 (12th). SONG: "The Old North State." MOTTO: Esse quam videri (To be rather than to seem). FLAG: Adjacent to the fly of two equally sized bars, red above and white below, is a blue union containing a white star in the center, flanked by the letters N and C in gold. Above and below the star are two gold scrolls, the upper one reading "May 20th 1775," the lower one "April 12th 1776." OFFICIAL SEAL: Liberty, clasping a constitution and holding aloft on a pole a liberty cap, stands on the left, while Plenty sits beside a cornucopia on the right; behind them, mountains run to the sea, on which a three-masted ship appears. "May 20, 1775" appears above the figures; the words "The Great Seal of the State of North Carolina" and the state motto surround the whole. MAMMAL: Gray squirrel. BIRD: Cardinal. FISH: Channel bass. DOG: Plott hound. REPTILE: Eastern box turtle. INSECT: Honeybee. FLOWER: Dogwood. TREE: Long leaf pine. VEGETABLE: Sweet potato. BEVERAGE: Milk. SHELL: Scotch bonnet. PRECIOUS STONE: Emerald. ROCK: Granite. LEGAL HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., 3rd Monday in January; Easter Monday, March or April; Memorial Day, last Monday in May; Independence Day, 4 July; Labor Day, 1st Monday in September; Veterans Day, 11 November; Thanksgiving Day, 4th Thursday in November, and the day following; Christmas Eve, 24 December; Christmas Day, 25 December. TIME: 7 AM EST = noon GMT.