Lawmakers Say Iowa Needs a New Slogan

Do you know what Iowa's official slogan for Iowa is? Don't get used to it because Iowa lawmakers say we need a new one.

I guess when you cross the I-74 and I-80 bridges, the Iowa welcome sign says, "Welcome to Iowa. Fields of Opportunities." But apparently of the 68 signs that welcome folks to our state, not all of those signs say the same thing.

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Lawmakers aren't even sure what the slogans say. Here's a quote from today's QC Times article.

“I’m kind of embarrassed that when you come into Iowa at every different angle we’ve got different messaging,” said Sen. Carrie Koelker, R-Dyersville. “We’ve got Fields of Opportunities — that’s not even our state slogan anymore.”

Yikes. That's a little embarrassing. That's why Koelker introduced a new bill asking for a $350,000 state general fund appropriation to take down Iowa’s 68 highway welcome signs and replace them with new signs with a consistent message.

The current slogan has been around for about 19 years when former Gov. Tom Vilsack unveiled the Fields of Opportunities slogan at the 1999 Iowa State Fair. It's about time we had something new.

In case you're wondering, there is a state marketing campaign that launched in 2019. It's called ‘This is Iowa.' Yep, it sure is. We can do better than this, can't we?

I remember when I was a kid the City of Bettendorf had a welcome slogan. It was "Bettendorf, Iowa's Most Exciting City." I thought that was cool and I really didn't know any better until I traveled outside Bettendorf. I performed in a band concert in Des Moines once and learned the truth. Probably Bettendorf WASN'T Iowa's Most Exciting City. Want to learn about other slogan's for Bettendorf, take a look at this article. There are some doozies. But I digress.

Lawmakers are interested in getting Iowans' opinions and suggestions about what we'd like our slogan to be. They're especially interested in hearing ideas from 20 somethings. I posted the question on our Facebook page today. Let me know your ideas for a new Iowa slogan.