Why Are There Roosters On The Weathervanes?

It's hard to believe that just last week, we were smelling the smoke from the raging wildfires from Canada. Wind gusts blowing over 25 mph brought Air Quality Alerts throughout our area. It looked like we were living on Mars for a few days before it all blew away.

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Now more than ever, it seems like people are obsessed with the weather. There is something else that I've noticed lately and it's something that's been around for a long, long time. In fact, it goes back to Biblical times. It's Weathervanes...but not any old weathervane, the rooster weather vane with a rooster on top or the "weathercock."

Until recently, I didn't realize that many of the weathervanes have roosters on them. I really wasn't sure why...until now. I never really noticed them before but now I see them everywhere.

In the early days, string or cloth was put on the top of buildings to see which way the wind was blowing. Banners became popular and that's where "vane" in weathervane came from. Because an Old English word for vane meant "banner" or "flag. So when did it switch to roosters?

Why Are Roosters On Weathervanes

We have to go back to St. Peter and the Last Super to find out how the rooster became THE weathervane topper. In the Bible, Luke 22:34 says that Peter would deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.

Everything worked out in the long run and the rooster became known to Christians as the symbol of Peter. Somewhere between 590 and 604 A.D. Pope Gregory I, declared that the most suitable symbol for Christianity and that lead to the first roosters appearing on the weathervanes.

In the 9th century, Pope Nicholas made the rooster official and churches had to display the rooster on their steeples as a symbol of Peter's betrayal of I Am. Because of this, churches began using the rooster on top of their weathervane. As time went by, the rule went away but roosters remained on weathervanes.

How To Read A Weathervane

With modern technology including the weather app on everyone's phone, the Weathervane is mostly an ornament today. It may have got its beginnings from an event from over 2,000 years ago, but it remains a symbol for America today.