Starbucks Indiana mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-11-15 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series Indiana mug with a race car, an apple tree, a cardinal and a covered bridge around the word INDIANA — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The Indiana Discovery Series mug shows an open-wheel race car, a cardinal on a small columned pavilion, a covered bridge, an apple tree, a popcorn box and a fruit basket around a green disc lettered INDIANA.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: Indiana, USA
Type: Mug
Released: Not confirmed
Capacity: 14 fl ozstandard mug size
SKU: Not confirmed

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The driver who quit racing, then won the first Indy 500

Ray Harroun meant to quit. He had planned to retire from racing after the 1910 season, but the Marmon company persuaded him to try one more race, the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 ^[6]. Race cars then carried a driver and a racing mechanic ^[6]. Harroun's had no seat for one, and other drivers protested that this made it a hazard. His answer was a mirror bolted on brackets over the steering wheel, so he could see traffic coming up behind him ^[6]. The Henry Ford says it is believed to be the first such mirror on a race car ^[7]. A writer on the First Super Speedway site doubts it was the first on any vehicle ^[8]. On 30 May 1911 Harroun won in 6 hours, 42 minutes and 8 seconds, at an average of 74.6 miles per hour, and took home $14,250 ^[6]. The open-wheel racer on the Indiana mug (2) has a cockpit for one, like his.

The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.

What's on the mug

1
INDIANA lettering
INDIANA in pale mint capitals sits on a dark green disc in the middle of the front. The other drawings are arranged around the disc, and the apple branches, the cardinal, the race car and the bridge roof overlap its edge.
2
Open-wheel race car
An orange-and-yellow race car with a red front wing, teal wheels and an exposed cockpit speeds across the upper left of the disc. It looks like an open-wheel IndyCar, the kind of car that runs the Indianapolis 500. The mug doesn't name the race or show a car number.^[3]
3
Fruit tree
A tree with dark teal leaves arches over the top right of the disc and carries red, yellow and orange round fruit. The red fruit with a stem dimple looks like apples, and a single red apple hangs on its own twig at the top left of the tree. Apples are grown in Indiana orchards, but the mug doesn't say which variety or place is meant.^[5]
4
Cardinal
A bird with a red crest, black face mask, orange beak, blue wings and a yellow-orange body and tail stands on top of the small pavilion below it. The crest, mask and beak match a northern cardinal, Indiana's state bird. The blue and yellow are the artist's colours, as a real male is red all over. The mug doesn't name the bird.^[1]
5
Covered bridge
A long red covered bridge with rows of small yellow-and-cream window slots slopes across the lower left, with a yellow-orange portal opening at its end and a short red railing in front. The red section under the roof, with three rows of small yellow windows and a stepped top, is drawn more like a row of brick buildings than a bridge side. It may still be one of the covered bridges Indiana is known for, such as those of Parke County, but no particular bridge can be named from the drawing. The mug doesn't name it.^[2]
6
Basket of fruit
A pale blue-green slatted basket at the lower right holds round orange, red and yellow fruit, with orange flowers drawn against its side. The fruit is too small and plain to say which kind it is. The mug doesn't name it.
7
Popcorn box
At the far left, a red-and-white striped box overflows with pale yellow popcorn, and loose pieces drift above it. Popcorn is Indiana's official state snack, and Indiana was the largest popcorn-growing state in 2021 per the USDA, so this probably points to that. The mug doesn't say so.^[4]
8
Small columned pavilion
A small round pavilion with a ribbed cream-and-mint colonnade and with a dark navy roof sits on a dark navy base below the cardinal, which perches on top of it. It is too simple to match one named building, so it is described only. The mug doesn't name it.
9
Orange flowers, probably peonies
Two clusters of large, ruffled orange-and-red flowers with many petals and dark green leaves sit at the lower right, beside the fruit basket and below the apple tree. They look like peonies, Indiana's state flower, though the orange is the artist's colour. The mug doesn't name them.^[4]
10
Yellow-orange building
At the far left edge, above the covered bridge, a tall yellow-orange building with rows of small windows and a dark blue peaked roof is cut off by the edge of the photo, so only part of it shows. It could not be matched to a named building. The mug doesn't name it.

The photo shows one side of the mug. The back and the area behind the handle are out of view.

Collector notes

The lettering is pale mint rather than the orange or yellow used on many other Discovery mugs, which is a quick check when comparing listings.
The race car and the covered bridge sit at the left of the circle, and the apple tree and the cardinal at the right, so the mug reads as two halves.

Before you buy

The photo shows one side of the mug, so the back and the area behind the handle are not visible. The lettering is pale mint, unlike the orange or yellow on many other Discovery mugs, and the Been There Series also has an Indiana mug.