Vane
VANE (formerly spelt "fane," i.e. pennon, flag; cf. Ger. Fahne, Du. vaan, Fr. giroueile, Ital. banderuola, Ger. Wetterfahne), the weathercock on a steeple. Vanes seem in early times to have been of various forms, as dragons, etc.; but in the Tudor period the favourite design was a beast or bird sitting on a slender pedestal and carrying an upright rod, on which a thin plate of metal is hung like a flag, ornamented in various ways.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
