The thistle is the emblem of Scotland as a barefoot viking raider cried out in pain as he stood on one, alerting the Scottish army encampment that the Norse army were sneaking up on.
Alaska, lovely state. Alaska is one of the few states I've thought about in a SATW sense. My headcanon is that she's exceptionally tall (because she's the largest state) adopted by America (her parents are Russia and the "original" Alaska, who represents native Alaskans as a whole), and close with Hawaii, who bonded with her because he's also adopted by America and the two of them are rather left out by their other siblings (not because they don't like them, but because they're so far away they're often forgotten).
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