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Florida State Facts
by Dellanar Vistanfloriy
http://www.floridasights.com

Florida may conjure up images of Mickey Mouse at Disney
World, lots of gorgeous sun and miles of sandy beaches,
but that's only a small portion of what Florida is all
about. The state's culture is rich and varied, making
it a great vacation destination for both fun-seekers
and culture buffs. There's much about the nation's 27th
state that is not as widely known--including the things
that Floridians themselves uphold as characteristic of
their state.

Consider Florida~s state flower ~ the orange blossom. This
fragrant plant is not just symbolic, it's also a very real
representation of the citrus industry that has made
Florida what it is today. The orange crop yields delicious
Florida orange juice that is sold all over the country--
and the globe. But this is only one aspect of the state's
intriguing culture.

The importance of culture and state pride to Floridians
is epitomized in the history of the state seal. In 1868,
the Legislation wrote in the state Constitution that the
state seal ~should not again be changed after its
adoption by the Legislature.~ The original seal featured
a cocoa tree, the sun over distant mountains, an Indian
woman and a steamboat on the water. Nothing is ever
constant, however. In 1970, the Legislature changed the
cocoa tree to a sabal palmetto palm, and that opened the
door to several other significant revisions.

Because Florida is not a mountainous state, the mountains
in the seal's background were removed. Other scenic changes
were made as well. Moreover, as the Indian woman's
headdress was said to be of the sort worn only by men,
the image was revised accordingly.

Florida now has a lovely seal. It also has a number of
objects and creature that represent the character of this
unique, diverse state. The state bird is the mockingbird,
and the state animal the Florida panther.
For its state tree, Florida has chosen the sabal
palm, and its state reptile is,
as you might expect, the alligator. Other
changes to Florida's cultural history involve
the shift from the original state
song ~ ~Florida, My Florida,~ selected in 1913 -
to a version of "Suwanee River,"
by Stephen C. Foster, in 1935.

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