Symbols & Food
The Bluebonnet
Texas adopted the bluebonnet as its state flower in 1901 and broadened the designation in 1971, while highway wildflower programs helped turn spring bluebonnet fields into a statewide visual ritual.
- Roster rank
- #237
- Category
- Symbols & Food
- Subject type
- Symbol
- Profile source
- Published Texas Icons profile
Texas story
Story and significance
The Texas Legislature first selected Lupinus subcarnosus, commonly called blue bonnet or buffalo clover, as the state flower in 1901. The choice did not end botanical debate, and in 1971 lawmakers broadened the official designation to include Lupinus texensis and other varieties of bluebonnet.
The flower's cultural visibility grew beyond the statute. Texas Highway Department roadside-wildflower programs beginning in the 1930s and later beautification campaigns helped make bluebonnet fields a recurring spring image along highways, ranch roads and family-photo destinations across much of the state.
Defining work
What to know
- 1901 state-flower designation
- 1971 expanded designation
- Texas highway wildflower program
- spring bluebonnet fields
- state flower imagery
Timeline
Key milestones
- 1901Senate Concurrent Resolution 10 designates Lupinus subcarnosus as the state flower.
- 1930sThe Texas Highway Department expands roadside wildflower planting and preservation efforts.
- 1971House Concurrent Resolution 44 broadens the official flower designation to Lupinus texensis and other bluebonnet varieties.
Texas connections
Places in the story
Texas roadsides
Highway wildflower programs helped spread and protect the flower's public visibility.
Ennis and the Hill Country
Well-known spring bluebonnet-viewing areas, though the official symbol belongs statewide.
Legacy
Why the story lasts
Bluebonnets are both a statutory symbol and a seasonal public landscape, connecting state identity with spring travel, photography and roadside beautification.
The 1971 action matters because the official symbol is not limited to a single bluebonnet species; modern Texas usage embraces multiple varieties covered by the expanded designation.
Sources
Research trail
Cross-linked profiles