I live in Arizona. For as long as I’ve lived here, the state slogan––which appears on most of the auto license plates––proclaims us to be The Grand Canyon State. There’s no doubt that the Grand Canyon is spectacular and attracts thousands of visitors from all over the globe.

Many states have slogans that pinpoint the state’s best attributes, such as Florida’s “The Sunshine State,” Montana’s “Big Sky Country,” and Minnesota’s “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” My own home state of Indiana has tried several different slogans, some of which made no sense whatsoever. When I moved from Indiana to Arizona, the slogan printed on license plates was: “Wander Indiana.” One could almost picture overall-clad farmers with puzzled expressions trying to find their way home after a day of plowing the cornfields.

Recently, however, Arizona has issued a request to citizens to “name that state slogan.” According to an article in the newspaper, the governor hopes to polish the state’s image for everything from tourism to business promotion. This statewide effort seeks to find out what people think of Arizona now, and he’s using everything from one-on-one interviews to focus groups. The end result will be a package that “speaks the message of the Arizona brand.”

From the results already obtained, it seems clear that lots of folks already know what that brand should be, and most comments involve the weather––good and bad. Here are some of the suggestions for a state slogan:

“Arizona––heat today, heat tomorrow.”
“Arizona, the molten state.”
“Arizona, the melting pot.”
“Arizona––it’s a dry heat.”

Another humorous version seems to combine weather and politics: “Arizona––it’s a dry hate.”
But one respondent combined both the weather issue and business opportunities:
“Arizona, a hotbed for innovation.”

Many suggestions focused on the state’s name, such as: “Everything from A to Z.” The respondent went on to suggest our state’s special attractions, one for each letter of the alphabet, from “Awesome sunsets” to “world-class Zoos.” One fellow apparently borrowed a line from his favorite Jack Nicholson movie: “AZ good as it gets.” (Or maybe it was, “as good AZ it gets.”)

But my favorite response came from a lady who likes to keep things as they are. As she said, “Why mess with it at all? We’ve always been known as the Grand Canyon State.” I must confess I agree with her, but like most old ladies, I hate change.

That brings me to one of Shakespeare’s lines from Romeo and Juliet (Act II, Scene II) and I quote: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Hmmm. Maybe I should change my name to something more sweet–––and sexy––like Raquel?