Use labelField property of TabBar control to specify the property name containing the tab text
<?xml version="1.0"?> <mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"> <mx:TabBar labelField="state"> <mx:dataProvider> <mx:Object state="Alabama" data="Montgomery" /> <mx:Object state="Alaska" data="Juneau" /> <mx:Object state="Arkansas" data="Little Rock" /> </mx:dataProvider> </mx:TabBar> </mx:Application>