Ohio’s other official symbols, including a barn and two different tomatoes
Beyond the flag and the buckeye, Ohio has adopted an amphibian, a fruit, a native fruit, an artifact and a barn — and the tomato appears twice.
Ohio’s better-known symbols are the buckeye, the cardinal and the burgee flag. Chapter 5 of the Ohio Revised Code carries a second tier, and some of it is unexpected.
The tomato appears twice, under two different headings. Section 5.081 adopts “The fruit, Lycopersicon esculentus, commonly known as the tomato” as the state fruit. Section 5.08 separately adopts “the canned, processed juice and pulp of the fruit of the herb Lycopersicon esculentum, commonly known as tomato juice” as the state beverage. Ohio therefore has a state fruit and a state beverage that are the same plant in two forms.
Because the tomato is not native, Ohio adopted a second fruit for the ones that are. Section 5.082 adopts “The fruit, Asimina triloba, commonly known as the pawpaw” as the state native fruit. Both fruit designations were made by the same bill, Senate Bill 243, effective in April 2009.
The state amphibian is the spotted salamander. Section 5.033 adopts “The salamander, Ambystoma maculatum, commonly known as the spotted salamander”.
The most unusual entry is architectural. Section 5.074 designates “The barn, an agricultural building located on farms and used for many purposes” as the official historical architectural structure of the state, by Senate Bill 86, effective March 2019. Ohio’s official building is not a statehouse or a monument but a farm building, described in the statute in the plainest possible terms.
The state artifact is the Adena pipe, adopted under section 5.075 as “a prehistoric effigy pipe that was discovered in 1901 by William C. Mills within a burial mound near Chillicothe and that was created by the ancient Adena culture from native Ohio pipestone”. The state prehistoric monument, under section 5.073, is the Newark earthworks in Licking County.
The chapter carries more besides: a state frog, an official pet, a state coat of arms, a state seal, a governor’s flag, a bicentennial bridge and a designated soap box derby. The chapter listing is the fastest way to see all of it.
Browse the chapter: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/chapter-5