This wind vane thing definitely makes me a danger in the traffic.  Looking for vanes while driving in the countryside makes my eyes focus on other things than the road. The dragon above guards a barn. My third dragon, so far. Next below is a another barn vane with two birds sitting on an arrow. When I first glimpsed it I thought the birds were real, but when I got a better look it was obvious that they were metallic silhouettes.

I’ve also sought some information about these things and have found out that the word vane comes from the latin word for flag. Another word for it is anemometer (from the Greek word for wind) – more information about how to build an anemometer can be found here.  It was, during a long stretch of time, considered as a status symbol and in France only the nobles were allowed to mount wind vanes on their buildings. Most common was to use the initials and/or the year of manufacturing as a symbol on the vane. Among the wealthy  a mythical animal or creature was  it was a popular symbol. The richer the landlord, the more ornaments and bling – just like today. These ornamented, advanced vanes were in fashion throughout the 19th century- maybe as a result of the growing bourgeoisie.

More about history and symbols of the vanes can be found on these pages:

Denning history of wind vanes.

Growing season history of wind vanes.

The vane with hearts sits on the top an old, nice little house – probably from the 19th century.