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Virginia General Assembly· SB 801Acts of Assembly Chapter 957

"Carry Me Back to Old Virginny;" removes designation as official state song emeritus., the official text

Shown verbatim: the complete text as captured from the official page posted by the Virginia General Assembly, fetched 2026-08-29. Where this bill amends existing law, language marked for deletion in the official page appears here in brackets. This is the chaptered version. The official bill page.
CHAPTER 957
An Act to amend and reenact § 1-510 of the Code of Virginia, relating to official emblems and designations; song emeritus; repeal.
[S 801]
Approved April 13, 2026

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 1-510 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 1-510. Official emblems and designations.
The following are hereby designated official emblems and designations of the Commonwealth:
Artisan Center — "Virginia Artisans Center," located in the City of Waynesboro.
Bat — Virginia Big-eared bat (Corynorhinos townsendii virginianus).
Beverage — Milk.
Bird — Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).
Blue Ridge Folklore State Center — Blue Ridge Institute located in the village of Ferrum.
Boat — "Chesapeake Bay Deadrise."
Cabin Capital of Virginia — Page County.
Coal Miners' Memorial — The Richlands Coal Miners' Memorial located in Tazewell County.
Covered Bridge Capital of the Commonwealth — Patrick County.
Covered Bridge Festival — Virginia Covered Bridge Festival held in Patrick County.
Dog — American Foxhound.
Fish (Freshwater) — Brook Trout.
Fish (Saltwater) — Striped Bass.
Flag of Remembrance of September 11, 2001 — Freedom Flag, designed by a Virginian, as the flag of remembrance of September 11, 2001.
Fleet — Replicas of the three ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, which comprised the Commonwealth's founding fleet that brought the first permanent English settlers to Jamestown in 1607, and which are exhibited at the Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg.
Flower — American Dogwood (Cornus florida).
Folk dance — Square dancing, the American folk dance that traces its ancestry to the English Country Dance and the French Ballroom Dance, and is called, cued, or prompted to the dancers, and includes squares, rounds, clogging, contra, line, the Virginia Reel, and heritage dances.
Fossil — Chesapecten jeffersonius.
Gold mining interpretive center — Monroe Park, located in the County of Fauquier.
Insect — Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucus).
Maple Festival — The Highland County Maple Festival.
Motor sports museum — "Wood Brothers Racing Museum and Virginia Motor Sports Hall of Fame," located in Patrick County.
Opry — The Virginia Opry.
Outdoor drama — "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine Outdoor Drama," adapted for the stage by Clara Lou Kelly and performed in the Town of Big Stone Gap.
Outdoor drama, historical — "The Long Way Home" based on the life of Mary Draper Ingles, adapted for the stage by Earl Hobson Smith, and performed in the City of Radford.
Pollinator — Honey Bee (Apis mellifera).
Pony — Chincoteague Pony.
Rock — Nelsonite.
Salamander — Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber).
Shakespeare festival — The Virginia Shakespeare Festival held in the City of Williamsburg.
Shell — Oyster shell (Crassostrea virginica).
Snake — Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis).
[Song] [emeritus] [—] ["Carry] [Me] [Back] [to] [Old] [Virginny,"] [by] [James] [A.] [Bland,] [as] [set] [out] [in] [the] [House] [Joint] [Resolution] [10,] [adopted] [by] [the] [General] [Assembly] [of] [Virginia] [at] [the] [Session] [of] [1940.]
Song (Popular) — "Sweet Virginia Breeze," by Robbin Thompson and Steve Bassett.
Song (Traditional) — "Our Great Virginia," lyrics by Mike Greenly and arranged by Jim Papoulis with music from the original American folk song "Oh Shenandoah."
Spirit — George Washington's rye whiskey produced at Mount Vernon, Virginia.
Sports hall of fame — "Virginia Sports Hall of Fame," located in the City of Portsmouth.
Television series — "Song of the Mountains."
Tree — American Dogwood (Cornus florida).
War memorial museum — "Virginia War Museum," (formerly known as the War Memorial Museum of Virginia), located in the City of Newport News.
Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.