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State Flower of Kentucky

Flower: Goldenrod

Kentucky may be the only state that would consider adopting a grass as the state flower. After all, Kentucky is nicknamed the Bluegrass State. In fact, bluegrass was adopted as the state flower in 1911. But many people objected that bluegrass represented only Kentucky’s Bluegrass section.

The United States War Department used the trumpet vine as a symbol of the Kentucky militia. But the State Federation of Women’s Clubs agitated for an appropriate state flower in 1921. What candidate could be more obvious than the goldenrod? The War Department insisted that the trumpet vine remain Kentucky’s floral emblem. But Kentuckians weren’t about to let the federal government tell them what their state flower should be. They adopted the goldenrod on March 16, 1926.