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Alberta’s Provincial Emblems
You probably knew that the wild rose is Alberta’s
official flower, but did you know that Alberta is soon
to have an official mushroom, making it the first
province to embrace a fungus? Read more to become an
expert on Alberta’s emblems!
 Shield of Arms: Topped by a
red St. George’s Cross on a white background, the Shield
of Arms of Alberta portrays an azure (blue) sky,
snow-capped mountains, rolling green hills, prairie, and
a wheat field. Alberta was granted an official shield by
Royal Warrant on 30 May, 1907.
 Flag: Like Canada, and every
other province and territory in Canada, Alberta has a
flag. The provincial flag shows the Shield of Arms of
Alberta on a blue background. Even though Alberta had
the Shield of Arms since way back in 1907, it took about
60 years for Alberta to get an official flag. It finally
did so on 27 January, 1967.
 Did you know that Alberta also has a
flag that represents its Francophone population? In
1982, Alberta’s French speaking community came up with a
flag that represents Francophone heritage in Alberta.
The flag is blue, white, and red, with a Fleur de Lys
representing France in its upper left corner, and a Wild
Rose representing Alberta in its lower right corner.
 Coat of Arms: Alberta’s Coat
of Arms was created as an addition to the Provincial
Shield of Arms on 30 July, 1980. The Coat of Arms
depicts a royal crown on top of a beaver, who is sitting
on a helmet with a silver and red wreath. A gold lion
that symbolizes power and a pronghorn antelope
symbolizing riches flank the Shield of Arms, and the
base is a grassy mount with wild roses and the
provincial motto.
Provincial Tartan: Adopted on
30 March, 1961, Alberta’s Official Tartan basically
tries to represent Alberta in plaid form. If you look at
it for a really long time without blinking, it really
does start to look like the Albertan landscape…just
kidding! Still, each of the colours symbolizes the
following:
- Green - Alberta's forests
- Gold - Alberta's wheat fields
- Blue - Alberta's clear skies and sparkling lakes
- Pink - Alberta's wild rose
- Black - Alberta's coal and petroleum.
 Provincial Colours: Blue and Gold.
Just like the tartan, Alberta’s official colours try to
embody the province’s natural beauty. The blue
represents the sky and gold/deep yellow represents the
prairies. Alberta officiallly recognized these colours
in 1984.
 Provincial Mammal: The Bighorn
Sheep. Primarily found in the Rocky Mountain region of
the province, the Bighorn Sheep is a tough, durable
animal native to Alberta. The Bighorn Sheep received its
Official Mammal status on 18 August, 1989.
Provincial Fish: The Bull
Trout. If you ever see this guy at the end of your
fishing line, be sure to release him. In order to ensure
this species of fish never becomes endangered, there is
a catch and release policy governing its fishing. The
Bull Trout ascended to Provincial Fish status on 2 May,
1995.
Provincial Bird: Great Horned
Owl. Some birds escape the hard Albertan winters by
opening up their winter condos in Florida, but not the
Great Horned Owl, who lives in Alberta all year round.
The Great Horned Owl became Alberta’s Provincial bird in
3 May, 1977.
 Provincial Tree: Lodgepole
Pine. Next time you pass over a railway track, take a
moment of silence to remember all the good Lodgepole
Pine’s who were felled to create that track. Much of our
province’s foundation (well, the wooden one, anyway) was
built with this tree, and it continues to be a useful
resource for lumber and paper products. The Lodgepole
Pine was adopted as Alberta’s official tree on 30 May,
1984.
 Provincial Flower: Wild Rose.
You probably see it on motor vehicle license plates more
than you do in nature, but the wild rose has been the
official flower since 1930.
 Provincial Grass: Rough
Fescue, Alberta’s Provincial Grass since 30 April, 2003.
The rough fescue is a humble, common grass—nothing very
fancy looking, but it feeds countless wildlife and
livestock all year long.
 Provincial Stone: Petrified
Wood. Representing Alberta’s prehistoric past, petrified
wood is the result of microcrystalline quartz depositing
into the pores and cells of trees that fell 60 to 90
million years ago. Petrified wood became Alberta’s
official stone on 18 May, 1977.
 Soon-to-be-Provincial Fungus:
Red Cap Mushroom. We made you scroll all the way to the
bottom of the page, but here it is, the Red Cap Mushroom
in all its fungal glory. It’s not quite an emblem of
Alberta yet, but it’s expected to be officially adopted
by the Alberta Legislature in 2006. Apparently, it
tastes great!
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Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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