Jonathan Webster wrote:Which states would you say have arms and which would you say don't?
Those that clearly do, by any reasonable definition:
Alabama (Ala Code 1-2-2, "Official Coat of Arms"; different from the state seal)
Colorado (Described in the law on the seal as "an heraldic shield," referred to in other statutes as "the arms of the state")
Connecticut (Conn Gen Stat 3-105, "The Arms of the State")
Delaware (referred to in the law on the seal, 29 Del Code 301, as "the arms of the state")
Hawaii (referred to in the law on the seal, Hawaii Rev Stat 5-5, as "the coat of arms")
Maine (1 Me Rev Stat 201; the legal blazon is more heraldic than the standard emblazonment)
Maryland (referred to in various statutes as the arms of the state)
Massachusetts (Mass Code Pt I, title I, ch 2 sec 1, "coat of arms of the commonwealth")
Michigan (Mich Compiled Laws 2.21 and 2.22, "state coat-of-arms")
Mississippi (Miss Code 3.3.41, "Mississippi coat of arms")
Missouri (the law on the flag, Mo Rev Stat 10.020, refers to the device on the state seal as the coat of arms)
New Jersey (NJ Code 52:2-1 refers to the device prescribed for the seal as the "arms," and 52:3-1 says the "arms of the state" will be on the state flag)
New York (NY Code Art 6, sec 70, "arms of the state")
North Dakota (ND Code 54-41, "North Dakota coat of arms"; not on the state seal)
Pennsylvania (the present official blazon was prepared in 1874 in response to direction from the General Assembly to correct errors in "the present Arms of the State;" numerous legislative mentions of the arms of Pennsylvania exist going back into the late 18th century)
Rhode Island (RI Gen Laws 42-4-1, "the arms of the state are a golden anchor on a blue field")
Vermont (1 Vt Stat 491, "coat of arms ... of the state")
Wisconsin (Wisc Code 1.07, "State coat of arms")
Others I would stretch a point for:
Arkansas (if the legislature would just prescribe tinctures for the shield)
Utah (shield as shown on the state flag (but not the seal), but nowhere that I know of referred to as the arms of the state; if they'd just take the writing off, it would be a good heraldic coat of arms, Argent a beehive beset by bees and flanked by sego lilies proper)
West Virginia (The law adopting the state flag, Senate Jt Res 18 of March 7, 1929, refers to the design as the "coat-of arms of the State of West Virginia," but doesn't define what that is. It seems to have been taken for granted that the arms are a modified version of the device on the non-armorial state seal, placed on a white shield framed in gold.)
Debatable at best, although my "sovereign gets to decide his own affairs" rule comes in to play on some of them:
Arizona (the seal has a shield with a landscape but it is not legally defined or referred to as a coat of arms)
California (Military and Veterans Code Sec 612(a) refers to something called the "state coat of arms," presumably meaning the seal, which is non-armorial)
Georgia (Ga Code 50-3-1 describes the central device of the state seal as the coat of arms, but there is no shield)
Idaho (same comment as for Arizona)
Louisiana (La Rev Stat 49:153, refers to the device on the state flag and seal as the coat of arms; same comment as Georgia)
New Mexico (NM Statutes 12-3-1; refers to the device on the state seal as the coat of arms; same comment as Georgia and Louisiana)
North Carolina (NC Gen Stat 144-2 says the motto will be placed at the foot of the coat of arms, which is not otherwise defined, and the seal is non-armorial)
Ohio (Ohio Revised Code 5.04 says its a coat of arms on a round shield--same as the state seal without the surrounding inscribed rings)
Oregon (landscape on a shield on a seal with no prescribed tinctures, but referred to in the law on the state flag, Ore Rev Stat 186.010, as the "state escutcheon")
South Dakota (South Dakota Code 33-1-6 refers to the coat of arms of the state, with no indication what that is; the seal is non-armorial)
Texas (Tex Rev Stat 6139f; same comments as Georgia and Ohio; Texas also has something that looks like a coat of arms but officially isn't)
Wyoming (Wyo Stat 19-7-103, same comment as for California)