Sometimes if you look up onto the top of a house or a church or some other building what you’ll see there is a structural / artistic piece of ornamentation called a weather vane. Although you can probably picture what a weather vane looks like, you may not know what the point of it is. At least, that’s true if you’re anything like me because until I did some research into weather vanes In frequently passed by them and wondered what the heck they were for.

A weather vane is a tool that is designed to show you the direction that the wind is blowing. This may be something that you want to know for the purpose of gardening or for planning other outdoor activities. We don’t necessarily need this type of tool today since we have modern computer access that can tell us all about the wind patterns around us. For this reason, today’s weather vanes may serve the purpose of decoration instead of function although they do still reveal the direction that the wind is blowing.

A weather vane is typically designed with a simple cross symbol which indicates the four directions of the wind. It is then ornamented with a design that makes it aesthetically appealing to have on your home or building. A very common design is that of a chicken. Because of this, weather vanes are sometimes also called weathercocks. Today’s weather vanes may use this symbol or other animals to add decorative appeal to the piece.

A few interesting things that I learned about weather vanes while researching them include:

• They’re typically located at the tallest height of the building where they are placed.
• Weather vanes date back to ancient Athens.
• Some people combine the word and call the product a weathervane but it’s really supposed to be two words.
• The world’s largest weather vane is located in Spain.

So what’s the point of the weather vane? It’s mostly for decoration but it can tell you the direction that the wind is blowing as well. Now I know!

Tags: design, Technology, tools, weather, weather vane, weathervane