Pennsylvania State Day, Motto, and Nickname

STATE DAY December 12 STATUS Unofficial DATE OF ADMISSION TO UNITED STATES December 12, 1787 RANKING IN STATE ADMISSION 2nd FORMER DESIGNATION New Sweden Pennsylvania Colony Quaker Province HISTORY The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was at the center of the birth of the United States. It held its first constitutional convention less than two weeks after the young country had declared independence from Britain in 1776. By September of that year, delegates had been elected and a new state constitution and bill of rights had been signed. The new constitution did away with the former frame of government, which had been established by William Penn in 1682, and was represented by a governor and provincial assembly. The document eventually became a model for democratic governance, including the abolition of slavery. MOTTO "Virtue, Liberty, and Independence" Pennsylvania’s motto harkens back to the days of the Revolutionary War and the state’s first tumultuous years. The motto appears on the Pennsylvania coat of arms, which was designed by Caleb Lownes in 1778, barely two years after Pennsylvania reached statehood. NICKNAMES "The Keystone State," "The Liberty Bell State," "The Quaker State" The earliest documented instance of Pennsylvania’s widely accepted nickname "The Keystone State" was at a Republican victory rally in 1802, when the state was referred to as "the keystone in the federal union." Philadelphia is home to the famed Liberty Bell—said to have been rung on July 8, 1776, to call citizens to hear the new Declaration of Independence—hence the nickname "The Liberty Bell State." "The Quaker State" pays homage to the state’s early founders and residents, who were largely Quakers. -World Trade Press