What is Kansas day? Kansas day is a holiday that Kansans celebrate in order to remember the day Kansas was admitted into the USA as a state. As Kansans, we should be proud to be from such a great state and the date, January 29th, should resonate as a date to celebrate. So, because of this special day, here are some important things to remember about this Kansas.

• The State Animal

As many of us already know, the state animal is the American Bison, or commonly known as buffalo. They were established as the official animal of Kansas in 1955. The main reason for this is because before the white settlers came along, there were almost 20 million buffalo roaming Kansas. Fast forward to the 1900’s and only a mere 500 buffalo were left. Because of this the government created programs to breed and protect the buffalo. Today buffalo roam around in Kansas on private land and in state parks.

• The State Flower

The Kansas state flower is the Wild Native Sunflower. First adopted in 1903, the sunflower has always been a staple in Kansas item; appearing on the Kansas quarter, state flag, and even becoming part of Kansas’ nickname, “The Sunflower state”.

• The State Motto

The official motto of Kansas is: Ad Astra Per Aspera, which means “To the stars through difficulty”. First adopted in 1861, this was meant to represent the difficulties that Kansas has went through in order to become a state.

• The State Song

Written in 1872 by Dr. Brewster M. Higley of Smith County, Kansas, “Home on the Range” was first written as a poem. Later, the poem turned song was adopted as the Kansas state song in 1947.