In 1884, Lamborn suggested that Ohio should make the carnation a state emblem. In 1904, three years after President McKinley's assassination, the Ohio General Assembly designated the scarlet carnation as the official state flower as a "token of love and reverence to the memory of William McKinley". On 29 January of each year (President McKinley's birth anniversary), a bouquet of red carnations is placed in the hands of McKinley's statue at the Capitol in Columbus.