- Barnstar
A barnstar (or barn star) is a decorative painted object or image, often in the shape of a five-pointed star but occasionally in a circular "wagon wheel" style, used to adorn a
barn . These are most commonly seen in German-American farming communities. Having no structural purpose, they were mainly used for their general aesthetic appeal and were even considered lucky, akin to ahorseshoe mounted over a doorway. [http://www.the-artistic-garden.com/barn-star.html History of the Barn Star in North America | Amish Barn Stars ] ]History
Barnstars were also meant to represent the mark of the builder, but became more frequently used for aesthetic purposes and were added to the building after construction was complete. [citeweb| url=http://www.thebarnjournal.org/stories/story018/index.html| title=Barn Stars in Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania| accessdate=2007-03-08] [citeweb| url=http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2005/10/11/news/tuesday/news03.txt| title=Barn Dons Old Fashioned Stars| accessdate=2007-03-08] Enthusiasts have traced a number of wooden barnstars to individual builders in the
Pennsylvania area, where numerous examples can still be seen. [ [http://www.thebarnjournal.org/stories/story018/index.html Barn Stars in Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania ] ]Barnstars were used in the United States during the 1700s and as late as 1870 in Pennsylvania, where their popularity increased greatly following the Civil War. Their regular use preceded that time, however, and stars were commonplace on large buildings, particularly factories, in pre-war
Richmond, Virginia . [http://www.the-artistic-garden.com/barn-star.html History of the Barn Star in North America | Amish Barn Stars ] ]Barnstars remain a very popular form of decoration and modern houses are sometimes decorated with simple, metal, five-pointed stars which the makers describe as 'barn-stars'. They are often deliberately distressed or rusted, alluding to the traditional decoration.
Other star-shaped plates
On older buildings in the
Pennsylvania Dutch area of the United States it is still possible to find barnstar-like building adornments which are painted, rather than wooden or metal, known ashex sign s. Strictly speaking, they are defined apart from barnstars and visually bear only passing resemblance, but the two are often confused and their names are even regarded as interchangeable. [http://www.the-artistic-garden.com/barn-star.html History of the Barn Star in North America | Amish Barn Stars ] ] Some hex signs incorporate star shapes, while others may take the form of a rosette or contain pictures of birds and other animals. [ [http://www.the-artistic-garden.com/hex-signs.html Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs | Hex Sign Symbolism & Their Meanings ] ]The term barnstar has been incorrectly applied to star-shaped objects used for structural reinforcement on buildings in the 18th and 19th centuries. These were made of
cast iron ,wrought iron , orsteel , and were used as tie plates serving as the washers fortie rod s on brick or other masonry-based buildings.The tie-rod-and-plate assembly serves to brace the masonry wall against lateral bowing.Some
Wiki -based communities give their users an award called a "barn star", as a continuation of the "barn raising " metaphor. This originated onMeatballWiki . The image that is frequently used for this purpose is actually a photo of one of the structural tie plates described above, not of a barn star proper.ee also
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Star (symbol)
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