These symbols not only promote state pride—why ... nitrogen-poor pockets along their coastal plains. Or that one state, New Mexico, has a state question, recognized in 1996: “Red or green?” ...

New Mexico's State Capitol, known familiarly as the Roundhouse, was designed by architect Robert E. McKee to resemble the shape of a Zia sun symbol, the image that adorns the state's flag.

Before Europeans arrived in New Mexico, the state was populated by Native Americans, who now make up about 11% of its population. In 1598, Juan de Oñate led a Spanish mission to colonize the state.