List of Uttarakhand state symbols

This is a list of state symbols of the State of Uttarakhand in India.[1]

State Symbols

Title Symbol Image Notes
State banner Banner of Uttarakhand
उत्तराखण्ड सरकार
Government of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand does not have an officially recognised state flag; the Government of Uttarakhand can be represented by a banner displaying the state emblem on a plain field, following the general convention among Indian states that lack a distinct flag.
State emblem Emblem of Uttarakhand
उत्तराखण्ड का राजकीय चिन्ह
Emblem of Uttarakhand
The state emblem is a diamond-shaped shield with a white background and blue border, supported by stylised peaks of the Great Himalayas beneath which four streams, representing the state's principal rivers, flow from left to right. The Lion Capital of Ashoka, the national emblem of India, is superimposed on a small red field at the crest, with the national motto in Devanagari inscribed below it and the words "उत्तराखण्ड राज्य" ("State of Uttarakhand") at the base. It was adopted by the interim Government of Uttarakhand at the state's formation on 9 November 2000; the red field is popularly described as representing the sacrifice of the activists of the Uttarakhand movement, while the white ground and blue border are read as symbolising the peaceable character of the state's people and the purity of its glacial rivers respectively.[2]
State motto Satyameva Jayate
सत्यमेव जयते
Truth Alone Triumphs
Satyameva Jayate is the national motto of India, drawn from the Mundaka Upanishad. It is inscribed in Devanagari script on the Uttarakhand state emblem, in the same form used on the national emblem, rather than as a distinct state-adopted translation.
State song Uttarakhand Devabhoomi Matribhoomi
उत्तराखण्ड देवभूमि मातृभूमि
Uttarakhand, Land of the Gods, O Motherland
A trilingual hymn praising Uttarakhand as a divine motherland, written by Hemant Bisht and composed by the Garhwali folk singer and musician Narendra Singh Negi. Of its seven verses, the first three are in Hindi and the remaining four in Garhwali and Kumaoni. It was adopted as the official state song in 2016.[3]
State foundation day Uttarakhand Day
उत्तराखण्ड स्थापना दिवस
Uttarakhand Foundation Day
Also called Uttarakhand Divas, it commemorates the formation of the state on 9 November 2000, when it was carved out of the hill districts of northern Uttar Pradesh as the 27th state of India, initially under the name Uttaranchal.[4]
State language Hindi
हिन्दी
Hindi
Hindi is the official language of Uttarakhand and is spoken, along with its regional variants Garhwali, Kumaoni and Jaunsari, by the large majority of the state's population.[5] Sanskrit was granted the status of second official language of the state in January 2010.[6][7]
State animal Kasturi Mrig
अल्पाइन कस्तूरी मृग
Alpine musk deer
Moschus chrysogaster
Kasturi Mrig is a shy, solitary musk deer of the Moschidae family, native to the coniferous and deciduous forests of the Himalayas at elevations of 3,000–5,000 m (9,800–16,400 ft). The male carries an externally visible musk sac between the testes; poaching for musk, used in perfumery and traditional medicine, has left the species classified as Endangered. It was adopted as the state animal in 2001.[8]
State bird Monal
हिमालयी मोनाल
Himalayan monal
Lophophorus impejanus
The Himalayan monal is a member of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, found in upper temperate oak-conifer forests and alpine meadows between 2,400–4,500 m (7,900–14,800 ft). The male displays iridescent blue, green, copper and purple plumage with a prominent metallic crest, while the female is cryptically coloured in browns and greys. It was adopted as the state bird in 2001, the same year the species was designated the national bird of Nepal, where it is known as danphe.[8]
State butterfly Common peacock
कॉमन पीकॉक
Common peacock
Papilio bianor polyctor
A large swallowtail with black wings dusted in metallic green and blue scales, found in forest tracts of the Indian Himalayan region between 500–2,200 m (1,600–7,200 ft). It was designated the state butterfly at a meeting of the Uttarakhand State Wildlife Board on 7 November 2016, making Uttarakhand the second Indian state, after Maharashtra (2015), to adopt an official state butterfly.[9][10]
State flower Brahmakamal
ब्रह्म कमल
Brahmakamal
Saussurea obvallata
A rare, night-blooming flowering plant of the family Asteraceae, found among rocks and grasses at altitudes of 3,000–4,800 m (9,800–15,700 ft) and flowering in the mid-monsoon months of July and August. It is offered at the Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines and, in Hindu tradition, is named for the god Brahma. It was adopted as the state flower in 2001.[8]
State fruit Kaphal
काफल
Kaphal
Myrica esculenta
A tart, mulberry-like wild berry of the bayberry family that fruits across the mid-Himalayan forests of Uttarakhand in early summer and is commemorated in the Kumaoni folk song Kafal Pako. Kaphal is widely described in state tourism and cultural literature as Uttarakhand's state fruit, although, unlike the state's other biological symbols, no government order formalising the designation has been traced.
State tree Burans
बुरांश
Burans
Rhododendron arboreum
An evergreen tree of the Himalayan foothills growing to 10–15 m (33–49 ft), bearing red, pink or white bell-shaped flowers in early spring. The flowers are pressed into burans ka sharbat, a squash popular across the hill regions, and a geographical-indication tag was granted to Uttarakhand Buransh Sharbat in December 2023. It was adopted as the state tree in 2001.[8]
State fish Mahseer
महाशीर
Golden mahseer
Tor putitora
An endangered cyprinid of the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins, popular as a gamefish and once believed the largest species of mahseer, reaching up to 2.75 m in length. Its numbers have declined by more than half owing to habitat loss and overfishing. It was adopted as the state fish in 2001.[11][12]
State instrument Dhol
ढोल
Dhol
A double-headed, cylindrical membranophone played with a pair of wooden or cane sticks, central to Uttarakhandi folk music and to religious and cultural ceremonies including jagar rituals; it was historically also used to relay messages between remote hill villages. It was declared the state instrument in February 2015.[13]
State sport Football
फुटबॉल
Football
Football is administered in the state by the Uttarakhand State Football Association, which fields men's and women's teams in the Santosh Trophy and the Senior Women's National Football Championship respectively, alongside a state-level professional league. It was declared the state sport in April 2011.[14]


See also

References

  1. ↑ "State Symbols". Forest Department, Government of Uttarakhand. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  2. ↑ "Government of Uttarakhand (Official Website)". Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  3. ↑ Kunwar, Darshan (6 February 2016). "Now Uttarakhand Will Sing Its Own Official Song". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  4. ↑ Goyal, Shikha (7 November 2019). "Uttarakhand Foundation Day: All you need to know". Jagran Josh. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  5. ↑ "Report of the Commissioner for linguistic minorities: 50th report (July 2012 to June 2013)" (PDF). Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  6. ↑ Trivedi, Anupam (19 January 2010). "Sanskrit is second official language in Uttarakhand". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  7. ↑ "Sanskrit second official language of Uttarakhand". The Hindu. 21 January 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "State Symbols of Uttarakhand". Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Limited. Archived from the original on 15 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Sharma, Nihi (18 November 2016). "Uttarakhand to declare 'Common Peacock' as state butterfly". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  10. ↑ Singh, Arun P. "Distribution and Ecology of the State Butterfly (Insecta: Lepidoptera) of Uttarakhand, India". Retrieved 15 July 2026. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ "State Fishes of India" (PDF). National Fisheries Development Board, Government of India. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  12. ↑ Sharma, Nihi (1 December 2017). "To protect the endangered 'mahaseer' fish, Uttarakhand set to rope in fishermen". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "ढोल होगा उत्तराखण्ड का राज्य वाद्य". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). 13 February 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2026.
  14. ↑ "फुटबॉल होगा उत्तराखण्ड का राज्य खेल" (in Hindi). Live Hindustan. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2026.