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State Symbols

The official state symbols represent the cultural heritage and natural treasures of each state or the entire United States

Maine Symbols

Maine Symbols

Animal, Berry, Bird, Cat, Drink, Fish, Flag, Floral Emblem, Fossil, Herb, Insect, Language of the Deaf Community, Mineral, Motto, Nicknames, Seal, Soil, Song, Tartan, Tree, Vessel

Maine State Language of the Deaf Community

American sign language

Adopted in 1991

American sign language is the official state language of the deaf community.

Maine Legislature Archives
§220. Official state language of the deaf community
American sign language is the official state language of the deaf community. [1991, c. 279, §2 (new).]
Section History:
PL 1991, Ch. 279, §2 (NEW).
RR 1991, Ch. 2, §1 (RNU).

A sign language (also signed language) is a language which uses manual communication instead of sound to convey meaning - simultaneously combining handshapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to express fluidly a speaker's thoughts. Sign languages commonly develop in deaf communities, which can include interpreters and friends and families of deaf people as well as people who are deaf or hard of hearing themselves. They are also used by people with speech impairments such as Aphasia.

State Symbols

State symbols represent things that are special to a particular state.

symbol \ˈsim-bəl\
noun

Etymology:
in sense 1, from Late Latin symbolum, from Late Greek symbolon, from Greek, token, sign; in other senses from Latin symbolum token, sign, symbol, from Greek symbolon, literally, token of identity verified by comparing its other half, from symballein to throw together, compare, from syn- + ballein to throw — more at devil
Date: 15th century

1: Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.