Weathervanes – forever in style!

Weathervanes are instruments that have been classically used to know the shifts in wind direction. This helped people predict the changing weather. Though in modern times, with all the sophisticated technologies in place, we rely on the weather man to give us very accurate prediction of weather virtually for the whole year, but the weathervane, nonetheless, is still very much used, not as a weather forecaster, but rather as an architectural ornament that has the potential to turn your home into a landmark of sorts with its elegantly carved out motifs.

The weathervane is a cleverly crafted instrument that has its centre of gravity resting on the pivotal axis, such that the pointer can move freely on its axis. The side with the larger surface area is blown away from the wind direction, and the smaller side with the pointer faces the wind direction. Most weathervanes also have directional markers beneath the arrow that are aligned with the geographical directions. In this way, wind blowing from north-east will have the pointer pointing in that direction.

Weathervanes are a tradition that was adopted in medieval times, and is still popular all over Europe. Bronze weathervanes dating back to the 9th century have been discovered that have an unusual quadrant shape.

A theory suggests that the banners that flew from medieval towers were perhaps precursors of weathervanes. These fabric banners would show the direction of the wind. Later, the cloth flags were replaced with metal ones, balanced to turn with the wind. In fact, the word “vane” comes from the Old English word “fana” meaning “flag”.

Weathervanes are decorative, and are typically used as architectural ornaments perched at the highest point of a building. Weathervanes can be so alluring that they can turn an ordinary house or building into a lively, charming piece of architecture.


Weathervanes are generally handcrafted to give them an exquisite look and feel. Making weathervanes is an ancient art that still mesmerizes many. Creating a weathervane depends on the ability of the artist to capture a subject’s character and spirit in metal, in a manner that does not corrode or fade for years to come. Since weathervanes are viewed from a distance, it is important to emphasize on the overall pattern, and enhance specific characteristics such as profile, facial details, and contour lines. The technique to carve a weathervane, and its motifs, is borrowed from goldsmiths and silversmiths, to produce beautifully sculpted pieces of art.

Since weathervanes are traditionally installed at the highest point of a building, they have to be sufficiently large in size. However, with the requirements changing in modern times, we now have weathervanes that are adapted to fit the need of the modern day, with pieces that are designed to sit elegantly on a porch rail, lawn, or your patio!

Early weathervanes were very ornamental, with heavily crafted pointers. The modern ones do not have ornamental pointers, but we can now see a great variety of designs such as ships, arrows, horses, mermaids, fishes, swans, ducks, and anything else that can be elegantly fitted into the design! Use your creativity here!

Weathervane War

Keeping up with the Joneses: the Weathervane War

When I was a boy growing up on this suburban street on the East coast I remember an interesting period which we now lovingly call “The Weathervane War”. You have to know, this was an area where “keeping up with the Joneses” wasn’t just a phrase…it was a way of life lived to its fullest. For example, one neighbor would get a riding lawnmower, then another neighbor would get one as well, and another, and next thing you knew everyone on that street had their cool lawn ride. Thing is, they also always tried to outdo each other – that’s how competitive everyone was. So the mowers kept getting bigger and bigger, no matter how small of a patch of land anyone had.

Anyway, when my Grandfather passed away he bequeathed to my dad this antique weathervane (among many other things). Made of copper (then green), with a Rooster motif and the wind directions prominently displayed on this decorative ring. My dad fell in love with the idea of putting that thing on the roof, since it reminded him of his childhood home. So he sat and washed, scrubbed, and polished this heirloom one weekend for 2 days straight, till it was gleaming and shining like new. It wasn’t big, but big enough to grab your attention from far away.When I was a boy growing up on this suburban street on the East coast I remember an interesting period which we now lovingly call “The Weathervane War”. You have to know, this was an area where “keeping up with the Joneses” wasn’t just a phrase… it was a way of life lived to its fullest. For example, one neighbor would get a riding lawnmower, then another neighbor would get one as well, and another, and next thing you knew everyone on that street had their cool lawn ride. Thing is, they also always tried to outdo each other – that’s how competitive everyone was. So the mowers kept getting bigger and bigger, no matter how small of a patch of land anyone had.

So one evening he and I went ahead and installed that rooster in all its shining glory on the roof of our suburban home. I needn’t tell you I was embarrassed at this old fashioned piece of “roof art”.

However, as soon as the next weekend, one of the neighbors, Mr Burr, had purchased himself a weathervane with a slightly larger eagle motif, and painted in very nice colors. Up on his roof he went and installed himself some “eagle art”…

Then the next neighbor got an even bigger “carriage weathervane”. So one day my best friends Dad, Mr Smith, who had “written the book” on the Joneses, went and bought himself the “mother of all weathervanes”. It depicted three geese in flight, clustered together and HUGE. My friend and I were wondering if the roof would actually be able to bear that monstrosity. It did, and it actually looked really cool…and it could be seen from 5 miles away. It was my Mr. Smith’s real pride and joy.

But one day something happened, and we weren’t sure why. Was it envy, the challenge, or was it a drunk duck hunter…but what do you know, one night the whole street woke up to a set of loud bangs, three in a row, and the group of ducks came crashing from the roof, and falling onto the hood of Mr Smith’s new Buick. I needn’t tell you how upset he was, he got so red in the face that I was afraid he would collapse right there on his front lawn. Clearly, someone had shot those ducks right from Mr. Smith’s roof. That very night he loudly swore he would do something about this…

So the very next day he went shopping for the most solid and “bulletproof” and BIG weathervane he could find. He brought home a huge “Perched Eagle” weathervane made from stainless steel. It was even bigger than the group of ducks had been, and it shone like 1000 mirrors in the sun when it was installed on their roof.

A few nights later we again woke up to three loud bangs coming from the direction of Mr Smith’s home. We couldn’t believe that someone would try the exact same stunt again, so we ran outside and looked. The eagle was still proudly perched on his metal ball, but oddly enough we heard a noise like someone writhing in pain. We ran around the house to the back yard and saw a guy with a gun leaning over another guy on the ground whose pant seat was red and bloody. The guy on the ground was Mr.Burr, the neighbor who had bought that second weathervane, the eagle one.

911 was called and arrived quickly, and within a short few days we learned that the neighbor had hired the shooter to take down first the group of ducks, being that they were the biggest roof art objects on the street. He clearly didn’t like that. And thereafter he couldn’t stand Mr Smith purchasing a bigger and nicer eagle than he himself had had.

Problem was, the eagle’s wings were at an angle, and when the shooter shot the stainless steel weathervane, Mr. Burr had started running right on the first shot as he was scared of getting caught, but one of the bullets ricocheted right off that wing and into that neighbor’s behind..

The neighbor eventually apologized to everyone in the street, paid retribution, and took down his smaller eagle. Thus ended the “weathervane war” in our street.

Andy Zynga

co-owner Weathervanedirect.com

History of weathervanes

History of Weathervanes

Tower of the Winds, Athens

The name “Weathervane” comes from the Old English Fane, which means flag or banner. Weathervanes, sometimes also called “wind vanes” were developed out of early man’s need to understand and predict the wind and to assist in weather forecasting. It was one of the first meteorological instrument devices. Weathervanes are mentioned in the ancient writings of Mesopotamia, from over 3500 years ago. The Chinese also talk about strings or flags being used to read wind direction in writings dated to the 2nd Century B.C.

Weathervanes are designed to perfectly balance on their rotating axis and need to be mounted on the highest point of a structure, away from other tall buildings or structures that may affect wind direction. As the weathervane spins to reduce the force of the wind on its surface, the end with the least surface area turns into the wind, and thus indicates the wind direction.

The earliest vane of which there are records is the “Tower of the Winds” in Athens (Greece) around 48 B.C. by the Greek astronomer Andronicus. This weathervane was in the form of a Triton (sea God of Greek mythology), and was possibly between four and eight feet long.

Around the 9^th Century the use of the weathercock increased greatly due to a papal decree declaring that every Christian church be capped with the symbol of a “cock” – the emblem of St. Peter. This was in reference to Christ’s statement on the eve of the Crucifixion. ”I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before thou shalt three times deny that thou knowest Me” and served as a call to worship and a warning to deny Christ as Peter had done. While these cocks were at first not used as weathervanes but more as a symbol, they were eventually combined with weathervanes. This is probably due to the fact that the cocks atop churches were easily visible from anywhere in town, and so were a logical choice to become communal weathervanes. Today the cock (I prefer to call it a rooster) is still the most popular ornament.

Also around the 9^th Century Vikings, as they began sailing and trading, started using metal vanes on their masts to predict the weather. These simple designs were made of bronze and other metals and replaced traditional cloth flags on Viking ships. During the Middle Ages weathervanes with heraldic motifs, banners, pennants, flags, etc. began to appear and remained one of the most popular motifs for centuries.

The early American Colonials, because of their seafaring and agricultural lives, also needed vanes for weather forecasting.  At first they imported the weathervanes from Europe. The next step, of course, was to handcraft them in America.  The vane maker was soon elevated from craftsman to artist and the weather vane became one of America’s first forms of sculpture.

Around the 17^th Century stationary compass pointers (directional) were added making it easier to determine the direction of the wind.

After the Revolutionary War, patriotic themes became popular and America’s symbol of the eagle became a weather vane subject. America’s first President, George Washington, commissioned a weathervane in the shape of a "Peace Dove" for his home at Mount Vernon to commemorate the end of the Revolutionary War.

Weathervanes were also popular among rural populations of the U.S. This is probably due to the fact that many farmers were isolated from the local towns and couldn’t rely on the communal weathervanes located on the church roof or Town Hall.

As their popularity spread, home owners in the U.S. began to create unusual designs. People who lived on the coasts enjoyed weathervanes in the shape of ships, sea creatures, and other nautical designs. Other popular designs included horses, wild animals, and angels, and patriotic symbols. Weathervanes at this time were made from wood, copper, or wrought iron, and other materials.

In our modern society, home owners rarely use their weathervanes for predicting the weather, but weathervanes remain extremely popular as an adornment. 

The World's Largest Weathervane

Seeing the World’s Largest Weathervane

See me looking up?

As you can imagine I have some passion around weather vanes, or “wind vanes”, as they are known in some areas. So when the opportunity of getting to see and “touch” the world’s largest weathervane presented itself, I jumped on it right away.

It was really a perfect coincidence, because my husband, stepson and I were visiting friends who grew up in Whitehall, Michigan, home to one of my best vendors of Weathervanes, Whitehall Products. And of course, this is also the home of the world’s largest weathervane, featuring the White Lake Lumber schooner “Ella Ellenwood”. The Schooner Weathervane puzzled me a little, since I figured what is sold mostly through my website (and undoubtedly other’s as well) are the tried and true “Rooster Weathervanes”, or even the “Eagle Weathervanes”. That is what I expected to be featured there. 

However, this enormous wind vane is a tribute to the seafaring character of the region for many centuries, as well as the local legend of the “Ella Ellenwood”, which ran aground on October 1^st, 1901 in Milwaukee, only to have it’s nameplate washed ashore a few months later right on the shores of White Lake in Whitehall, Michigan!

Above please see a picture of myself standing by the weather vane, which illustrates the colossal size of this piece of art. On the right hand side, see how beautiful the gold color shines in the sun.