These stars are much more than just decorations, even if it’s a treasured American tradition to hang stars from homes or barns.
For the farmers, stars represent something bigger and more meaningful than pretty things.
Observations of stars over barn doors have a rich historical heritage that spans over a century.
These beautiful, metal or wood stars are sometimes called Pennsylvania stars or primordial stars since they have been there since at least the 1820s in Pennsylvania. Their fame increased even more after the American Civil War, and they are still usually associated with luck and fortune.
Different star colors are connected to different things and have their own significance and meanings.
Even though the custom’s practical utility has diminished with time, it nevertheless exists as a symbol of culture and tradition.
Brown stars stand for strength and camaraderie, while white stars are symbolic of energy and purity. A violet star, on the other hand, denotes holiness. The blue or black tint is supposed to protect the farm whose barn the star is adorning.
Green stars signify fertility and growth for the crops that are grown on the farm, while bright yellow stars symbolize the love that humans have for the sun.
German-American farmers believed they would be protected from evil spirits and increase their chances of having a bumper crop if they placed the stars at the very top of their barns.
Occasionally, “hex stars,” which first surfaced in the 1950s, are mistaken for regular stars.
According to the Kuztown Folk Festival, the conversion from barn star to hex star began in 1952 with a man named Milton Hill.
In the late 1950s, Johnny Ott, a Pennsylvania Dutch folk painter, discovered that incorporating superstitious meanings into his signs increased their sales. These hex symbols spread fast to various countries throughout the globe.
Have you ever noticed a star above a barn?
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