Vermont: State Flag, Bird and Facts

About Vermont

Vermont is tiny by population, with only about 644,663 residents, the second-fewest of any state. Montpelier is the least populous state capital in the country, and Burlington, its largest city, is smaller than the top city of any other state. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Quebec surround it. Abenaki and Mohawk peoples were active in the area when Europeans arrived, and Native Americans had lived there for about 12,000 years.

France claimed the land first, then lost it to Britain in 1763. New York and New Hampshire both sold land grants in the region, and the Green Mountain Boys militia defended the New Hampshire grants. Today's flag, adopted in 1923, shows the coat of arms and the motto Freedom and Unity on blue. An earlier flag looked so much like the national one that it was changed.

Did you know?

• Mount Mansfield is the highest point in Vermont, at 4,395.3 feet.
• The sugar maple is Vermont's state tree, and one nickname is the Maple State.
• Proposals to bring back the old Green Mountain Boys flag have come up, but none has passed.