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Iowa: State Flag, Bird and Facts

The eastern goldfinch, also called the American goldfinch, is Iowa's state bird, and the wild rose is the state flower.

Capital
Des Moines
Nickname
The Hawkeye State
State bird
Eastern goldfinch (American goldfinch)
State flower
Wild rose
State tree
Oak (variety unspecified)
Admitted
December 28, 1846
Population
3,190,369 (2020 census)
Motto
Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain
Region
Midwest
Area
145,746 km² (56,273 sq mi)
Highest point
Hawkeye Point (1,671 ft)

About Iowa

Rivers frame Iowa on two sides, with the Mississippi to the east and the Missouri and Big Sioux to the west. Six states surround it: Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota. Des Moines is the capital and the biggest city. Around 3.19 million people live here. The land once belonged to French and then Spanish Louisiana, and it entered the Union in 1846.

Pioneers built farms in the middle of the Corn Belt after the Louisiana Purchase, and later decades added manufacturing, finance, tech and green energy. Because of its French past, the state flag follows the pattern of the flag of France as a vertical tricolor. An eagle carrying streamers in its beak appears on it, and the same bird shows up on the state seal. Dixie Cornell Gebhardt designed it in 1917.

Did you know?

  • Hawkeye Point is the highest place in Iowa at 1,671 feet.
  • Iowa's flag is one of nine state flags that feature an eagle.
  • The Iowa Caucuses give the state an outsized role in national politics.

Questions about Iowa

Why does the Iowa flag look like the French flag?

Iowa was once part of French Louisiana, so its vertical tricolor follows the pattern of the flag of France.

What is Iowa's nickname?

Iowa is the Hawkeye State.

Other Midwest states

Sources

Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

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