What are Weathervanes, and What are They Used For? Have you ever driven past an old farm and notice a small figuring with a directional arrow on the ridge of a barn roof? This ornament is called a weathervane and actually has a use other than for decoration. From the Old English word fane, which means flag or banner, we get the more common word weathervane. Weathervanes primary purpose is to inform which way the wind is blowing and to help predict weather.
In order for weathervanes to work correctly, they must be located at the very top of a building or structure. This ensures the wind direction is not altered by any interference from another structure. Weathervanes spin to reduce the force of wind on its surface. The end of the weathervane with the least amount of surface turns into the wind. This gives you the wind direction.
Weathervanes are made of a very simple design. In order for the weathervane to work properly, they must be perfectly balanced on their rotating axis. There must also be an unequal area on each side that allows the wind to blow against it.
Weathervanes date as far back as 48 B.C. At this time the first “true weathervane” was created by a Greek astronomer named Andronicus. This weathervane was cast in bronze and designed to honor King Triton, the Greek God of the sea, with the body of a man and the tail of a fish. There was a pointed wand in King Triton’s hand that indicated the direction of the wind. This weathervane stood on top of a forty-five-foot-high temple named the Tower of the Winds, in Athens Greece. We only assume that the weathervane must have been four to eight feet in length in order for it to have been in per portion to the Tower of the Winds.
Weathervanes were popular in the 9 th century A.D., the time of the Vikings. The Vikings were credited with using a form of weathervanes that helped predict the weather. They were simple designs made mostly from bronze and other inexpensive metals. Often times they would depict a creature or animal from the Norse mythology. Sometimes the weathervanes would take the place of traditional Viking flags.
The world’s largest weathervane is currently in the United States. Located on the shore of White Lake in Michigan, the weathervane stands forty eight feet tall with a twenty six foot long arrow that points out the direction of the wind.
The weathervane hit all time popularity high when over a thousand years ago when Rome decreed that a symbol of a rooster should be placed a top every church in Christendom. The symbol of the rooster was to remind all Christians of Peters betrayal of Christ:” I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.” (Luke 22:34)
As there were already cockerels on top of many church steeples, they were at first not intended to be weathervanes. Through time though, it seemed only logical that since the cockerel could be seen from most anywhere in the town, that they combine the cockerel with the weathervane. This way, it would kill two birds with one stone. The cockerels would adorn the church and the town’s people would all be able to view the weathervane.
When the European settlers arrived at the New World, they brought the culture of weathervanes with them. As the weather in the New World was a bit more challenging, they used weathervanes to help predict weather and aid in farming practices. In the early American colonies, the best weathervanes were imported from Europe.
In the rural United States weathervanes were very popular. This most likely had to do with farmers being so far away from local towns. Sometimes farms were miles and miles apart, so each farm would need their own weathervane to help predict weather.