960                         WISCONSIN BLUE BOOK 1985-1986

        (2) The great seal of the state consists of a metallic disc, 2 3/8
inches in diameter,
      containing, within an ornamental border, the following devices and
legend: The coat of
      arms of the state, as in s. 1.07 described; above the arms, in a line
parallel with the
      border, the words, "Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin;"
in the exergue, in a curved
      line, 13 stars.
        (3) A lesser seal, 1 3/4 inches in diameter, engraved with the device
of the great seal,
      with the words, "Seal of the Secretary of State," in a curved
line above, and the words,
      "State of Wisconsin," in a curved line below such device,
is the seal of the secretary of
      state, and may be used to authenticate all papers and documents issued
by him, except
      the official acts of the governor, and such copies of the laws and
records in the office of
      said secretary as may be required for use as evidence in any other
state, territory or
      country."
   Song. The music for "On, Wisconsin!" was composed in 1909 by
Willian T. Purdy with the
 idea of entering it in a Minnesota contest for the creation of a new football
song. Instead, a
 friend, Carl Beck, persuaded Purdy to dedicate the song to the University
of Wisconsin football
 team, and collaborated in the effort by writing the lyrics. The song was
introduced at the Univer-
 sity of Wisconsin in November 1909. It was later acclaimed by John Philip
Sousa as the best
 college song he ever heard.
   Lyrics more in keeping with the purposes of a state song were subsequently
written in 1913 by
 J.S. Hubbard (then editor of the Beloit Free Press) and Judge (later Tax
Commissioner) Charles
 D. Rosa. Hubbard and Rosa were among the delegates from many states convened
in 1913 to
 commemorate the centennial of the Battle of Lake Erie, where Oliver Hazard
Perry defeated the
 British fleet near Put-in-Bay, Ohio.
   Inspired by the occasion, they provided new, more solemn words to the
already well-known
 Wisconsin football song. Their lyrics, some of which were later incorporated
in the official state
 song, were first performed on the S.S. Alabama under the leadership of Prof.
Julius E. Olson,
 chairman of the Wisconsin delegation.
   Although "On, Wisconsin!" was recognized everywhere as Wisconsin's
song, the state did not
 adopt an official song until 1959. In that year, Assemblyman Harold W. Clemens
discovered
 that Wisconsin was one of only 10 states without a song. As a vocalist,
he had sung "On,
 Wisconsin!" at public gatherings for many years thinking it was the
state song. Mr. Clemens
 introduced a bill to give "On, Wisconsin!" the status he thought
it deserved. On discovering that
 many different lyrics existed, an official text for the first verse of what
was to become the state
 anthem was incorporated in the bill. It was enacted as Chapter 170, Laws
of 1959, amending
 statute Section 1.10.
     "1.10 State song and State symbols. The Wisconsin state song is
'On, Wisconsin', music
     written by W.T. Purdy, the words to which are as follows: 'On, Wisconsin!,
On, Wis-
     consin! Grand old badger state! We, thy loyal sons and daughters, Hail
thee, good and
     great. On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin! Champion of the right, 'Forward',
our motto-
     God will give thee might!'...."
   Symbol of peace: mourning dove. Various individuals and organizations
concerned with con-
servation and wildlife long sought a protected status for the dove. Concluding
an effort that
stretched over a decade, the mourning dove was added to statute Section 1.10
as Wisconsin's
official symbol of peace and removed from the statutory definition of game
birds by Chapter 129,
Laws of 1971.
     "1.10 State song and state symbols ..... The state symbols are
as follows: The mourning
     dove (zenaidura macoura corolinensis linnaus) is the symbol of peace...."
  Tree: sugar maple. A state tree was first selected by a vote of Wisconsin
school children in
1893. The maple tree won, followed by oak, pine and elm. In'1948 another
vote was conducted
among the school children by the Youth Centennial Committee. In that election
the sugar maple
again polled the most votes, followed by white pine and birch. The 1949 Legislature,
in spite of
efforts by white pine advocates, enacted Chapter 218, creating statute Section
1.10, which desig-
nated the sugar maple as the official state tree.
    "1.10 State song and state symbols..... The state symbols are as
follows: .... the Wiscon-
    sin state tree is the sugar maple (acer saccharum).