State Flag

The flag of Louisiana consists of a heraldic charge called a "pelican in her piety," representing a mother pelicanwounding her breast to feed her young from the blood. The mother pelican's head and outspread wings covering the three pelican chicks nested below her form a stylized fleur-de-lis, another emblem of similar significance often depicted in Louisiana. This symbol, emblematic of Christian charity (and Catholicism), is also found on the state seal. On the flagit is depicted above a ribbon with the state motto: "Union, Justice, and Confidence". The current flag was adopted in 2006, revising the original pelican design of 1912.

During the 19th century it was traditional in Louisiana flags and the state seal for the "pelican in her piety" to have three drops of blood on her chest. However, in later years the tradition (on both the state flag and seal) had been haphazardly followed, which was noticed by an eighth-grader at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma who brought this to the attention of his state legislator. The issue was resolved in April 2006, when the Louisiana State Legislaturepassed a bill (House Bill 833/Act 92) which requires three drops of blood to be depicted on the pelican used in both the state's flag and seal. The new state flag, featuring a new design, was recently unveiled during swearing-in ceremonies of new state officials.

State Capitol

Baton Rouge (French for "Red Stick") is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana and its second-largest city. The seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, the city is located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River.

As the "Capital City," Baton Rouge is the political hub for Louisiana, and is the second-largest metropolitan city in the state, with a growing population of 229,426 people as of 2013. The metropolitan area surrounding the city, known as Greater Baton Rouge, has a population of 820,159 people as of 2013. The urban area has around 594,309 inhabitants.

Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, research, motion picture, and growing technology center of the American South. The Port of Baton Rouge is the ninth largest in the United States in terms of tonnage shipped, and is the farthest upstream Mississippi River port capable of handling Panamaxships.

Holidays

New Year's Day	January 1, 2014
Martin Luther King Day	January 20, 2014
Mardi Gras	March 4, 2014
Good Friday	April 18, 2014
National Memorial Day	May 26, 2014
Independence Day	July 4, 2014
Labor Day	September 1, 2014
Election Day	November 4, 2014
Veteran's Day	November 11, 2014
Thanksgiving Day	November 27, 2014
Christmas Day	December 25, 2014
New Year's Day	January 1, 2015

Louisiana's biggest and most traditional holiday is Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). This holiday is most celebrated in the city of New Orleans. There are many parades each year all around Louisiana. You might see some pretty crazy things if you were to ever go to a Mardi Gras Parade. During Mardi Gras there are cakes called King Cake that are eaten. inside each cake there is one piece with a plastis baby inside. Whoever has it in their piece of cake has good luck.

Music

The music of Louisiana can be divided into three general regions: rural south Louisiana, home to Creole Zydeco and Old French (now known as cajun music), New Orleans, and north Louisiana. The region in and around Greater New Orleans has a unique musical heritage tied to Dixieland jazz, blues and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The northern portion of the state starting at Baton Rouge and reaching Shreveport shares the similarities with the rest of the US South. Rural south Louisiana's music also features very significant input from non-Creoles, most notably African Americans who are critical to the cultural/musical identity. Four main musical genres are indigenous to this area — Creole music(i.e. zydeco), swamp pop, and swamp blues. These historically-rooted genres, with unique rhythms and personalities, have been transformed with modern sounds and instruments. The southwestern and south central Louisiana areas herald many artists and songs that have become international hits, won Grammy awards, and become highly sought after by collectors.

State Bird

The brown pelican is a small pelican found in the Americas. It is one of the best known and most prominent birds found in the coastal areas of the southern and western United States. It is one of only three pelican species found in the Western Hemisphere. The brown pelican is one of the only two pelican species which feeds by diving into the water.

The brown pelican is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is 106–137 cm (42–54 in) in length, weighs from 2.75 to 5.5 kg (6.1 to 12.1 lb) and has a wingspan from 1.83 to 2.5 m (6.0 to 8.2 ft). Through most of its range, the brown pelican is an unmistakable bird. Like all pelicans, this species has a very large bill, 28 to 34.8 cm (11.0 to 13.7 in) long in this case, with a gular pouch on the bottom for draining water when it scoops out prey. The head is white but often gets a yellowish wash in adult birds. The bill is grayish overall in most birds, though breeding birds become reddish on the underside of the throat. The back, rump, and tail are streaked with gray and dark brown, sometimes with a rusty hue. In adult pelicans, the breast and belly are a blackish-brown and the legs and feet are black. The juvenile is similar but has a brownish-gray neck and white underparts.

Resources

Louisiana's natural resources include varied ecosystems and environments, from oak forest to cypress swamp. Extremely fertile soil and a long growing season are conducive to agriculture. Extensive coastlines, along the Gulf of Mexico and the state's many rivers, contribute to extensive wetland areas. As for non-biotic resources, the state also has sizable reserves of oil, natural gas, salt and sulphur.

With 15,000 miles of coastline, Louisiana has extensive coastal wetlands. The coastal basin is divided into nine regions, each with slightly different environments and ecosystems. For example, the Teche/Vermilion Basin in south-central Louisiana primarily has fresh and brackish waters, with very few salt marshes. In the southwestern corner of the state, the Calcasieu/Sabine Basin has a balanced mixture of fresh, brackish and salt marshes. The region's wetlands are estimated to be 3,500 years old.

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College (most often referred to as Louisiana State University or LSU) is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the nameLouisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy. The current LSU main campus was dedicated in 1926, and consists of more than 250 buildings constructed in the style of Italian Renissance architect Andrea Palladio, and occupies a 650-acre (2.6 km²) plateau on the banks of the Mississippi River.

LSU is the flagship institution of the Lousiana State University System, and the largest institution of higher education in Louisiana in terms of student enrollment. In 2011, the University enrolled nearly 24,000 undergraduate and over 5,000 graduate students in 14 schools and colleges. Several of LSU's graduate schools, such as the E.J. Ourso College of Business and the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, have received national recognition in their respective fields of study. Designated as a land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant institution, LSU is also noted for its extensive research facilities, operating some 800 sponsored research projects funded by agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.