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Florida State Song:
Stephen Foster's well loved Swanee River also called Old folks at Home
is the state song but it is going to be replaced due to the "politically
correctness" movement. Although Foster wrote the song form a old Black man's
prospective, possibly from a real life encounter with such a lonely old man, it is somehow
deemed "racist" as it uses the word "darkie" which was commonly used
in Foster's time and was not meant as a slur in his day. New lyrics were written in an
attempt to keep the song but a new song,

| ORIGINAL LYRICS: Swanee River
Verse 1:
Way down upon de Swanee ribber,
Far, far away,
Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber,
Dere's wha de old folks stay.
All up and down de whole creation
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for de old plantation
And for de old folks at home.
Chorus:
All de world am sad and dreary,
Ebry where I roam,
Oh! darkies how my heart grows weary,
Far from de old folks at home.
Verse 2:
All round de little farm I wandered
When I was young,
Den many happy days I squandered,
Many de songs I sung.
When I was playing wid my brudder
Happy was I
Oh! take me to my kind old mudder,
Dere let me live and die.
Chorus
Verse 3:
One little hut amond de bushes,
One dat I love,
Still sadly to my mem'ry rushes,
No matter where I rove
When will I see de bees a humming
All round de comb?
When will I hear de banjo tumming
Down in my good old home?
Chorus |
"MODERN" LYRICS: Swanee Ruver
Verse 1:
Way down upon the Swanee River,
Far, far away,
There's where my heart is turning ever,
There's where the old folks stay.
All up and down the whole creation,
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for the old plantation,
And for the old folks at home.
Chorus:
All the world is sad and dreary
Everywhere I roam.
O brothers, how my heart grows weary,
Far from the old folks at home.
Verse 2:
All 'round the little farm I wander'd,
When I was young;
Then many happy days I squander'd,
Many the songs I sung.
When I was playing with my brother,
Happy was I.
Oh, take me to my kind old mother,
There let me live and die.
Verse 3:
One little hut among the bushes,
One that I love.
Still sadly to my memory rushes,
No matter where I rove.
When will I see the bees a humming,
All 'round the comb?
When shall I hear the banjo strumming,
Down in my good old home.
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LYRICS: Florida, Where The
Sawgrass Meets The Sky.
Florida, where the sawgrass meets the sky.
Florida, where our hearts will ever lie.
Sitting proud in the ocean like a sentinel true,
Always shielding your own, yet giving welcome.
Florida.
Mocking birds cry and 'gators lie out in the sun.
Bridges span southward to the Keys and rockets skyward run.
The orange blossoms' sweet perfume and fireworks fill the air.
And cultures rich, our native people share.
Florida, where the sawgrass meets the sky.
Florida, where our heats will ever lie |
Florida Flags:
Florida has known many flags. Remember St. Augustine was founded in 1565, forty-two
years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the
Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. It is the oldest continuously occupied city in the
United States.

State Flag, Present |

Spain, 1513 |

The Burgundian Saltire, 1565-1763 |

France, 1564-1565 |

Great Britain, 1763-1784 |

Second Spanish Occupation, 1784-1821 |

United States, 1821 |

United States, 1845 |

First National Flag |

Battle Flag |

Second National Flag |

Third National Flag |

State Flag, 1845 |

The Lone Star Flag, 1861 |

State Flag, 1861 |

Secession Flag, 1861 |

State Flag, 1868 |

State Flag, 1900 |

State of Muskogee |

Patriots Flag |

Amelia Island |

Republic of West Florida |

Miccosukee Tribe |

Seminole Tribe |
Florida state symbols:
| Animal |
Florida Panther
(Felis concolor coryi) |
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| Bird |
Northern Mockingbird
(Mimus polyglottos) |
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| Butterfly |
Zebra Longwing
(Heliconius charithonia) |
 |
Fish
(salt water) |
Atlantic sailfish
(Istiophorus platypterus) |
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Mammal
(marine) |
Florida Manatee
(Trichechus manatus latirostris) |
 |
Mammal
(salt water) |
Porpoise
(Tursiops truncates) |
 |
Fish
(fresh water) |
Florida Largemouth Bass
(Micropterus salmoides floridanus) |
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| Reptile |
American Alligator
(Alligator mississippiensis) |
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| Shell |
Horse Conch
(Pleuroploca gigantea) |
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