Weathervanes have been an important weather instrument since ancient times. Also known as a weathercock, the weather vane commonly comes with a figure which revolves on a vertical rod that is mounted on a rooftop to point the direction of the wind. The word “vane” comes from the Ancient English “fane,” which means flag or banner. We have more complicated weather instruments nowadays, but the weather vane remains as a ornamental collector’s item that many homeowners continue to use for both design and function. Â
Ancient writings from Mesopotamia, around 3500 B.C., provide us the first mention to weather vanes. In ancient Greece, the god Triton was depicted on the 1st weather vane to be recorded. It sat on top of the Tower of the Winds in Athens, designed by Andronicus, an astronomer in forty-eight B.C. This ancient weather vane was a combination of a man plus a fish and is believed to have been four to eight feet long. Â
Deacon Shem Drowne was the 1st known weather vane builder in the United States. We can still  admire his creation of a grasshopper weather vane, which he engineered in 1742, on Faneuil Hall in Boston. Towards the end of the Revolutionary War, George Washington commissioned a weather vane in the form of the dove of peace for his home at Mount Vernon. Thomas Jefferson enhanced the design of his weather vane by extending its pole into his home, that enabled him to see the wind’s direction from indoors. Â
If the weather vane was invented in Mesopotamia around 3500 B.C., we don’t know the name of its creator. Perhaps the person belonged to the Chaldeans, who were the creators of astronomy, astrology and the 1st zodiac. Perhaps Andronicus, in ancient Greece, improved the design. Surely, American weather vane maker Shem Drowne also contributed to the look, as did Thomas Jefferson thru his ingenious invention which allowed him to “see” his weather vane inside of his home.  Locate copper weathervanes here.
Weather instruments include the hygrometer, that measures moisture plus humidity; the rain gauge, thermometer plus barometer. Others come with the ombroscope, or rainfall recorder, and a mechanical anemometer, or wind speed indicator. The weather vane has been an equally significant tool for farmers plus scientists alike allowing them to tell at a glance the direction the wind is blowing. These days, we have weather satellites and complex equipment which assist weather forecasters to know not only what direction the wind is blowing, but a lot of other crucial data.
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