[Source: Associated Press] -- Gov. Janet Napolitano says her chosen design for Arizona's state quarter represents the Grand Canyon State's diverse landscape. Napolitano on Tuesday unveiled the design, which shows both the Grand Canyon and a saguaro cactus in a desert landscape, at a Phoenix elementary school. "This state quarter will be a little piece of Arizona history and U.S. history that people can put in their pockets," Napolitano said in a statement. The Arizona design was the last one chosen among the 50 states. The other four states with quarters coming out in 2008 - Oklahoma, New Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii - had announced their designs previously. The design, chosen by Napolitano from among five finalists, includes a "Grand Canyon State" banner across the middle of the quarter, separating the canyon view with a multi-rayed sun above and a stately saguaro in a desert landscape below. The Arizona quarter, 48th in the state-by-state series, will be released in May 2008, followed by Alaska and Hawaii. One of the other four finalist designs showed a version of the Grand Canyon scene by itself while a second consisted of the Saguaro desert landscape. The third showed 19th Century explorer John Wesley Powell in a boat on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, and the fourth was of Navajo codetalkers - U.S. Marines who used their native language to thwart Japanese eavesdroppers during World War II. The combination design was the overwhelming favorite on 112,830 entries submitted to an online poll conducted by Napolitano's office. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
