While roaming through the more rural counties of Southeastern Pennsylvania, perhaps biking across the

Great Allegheny Passage, you may ride past barns adorned with colorful, circular signs. Known as hex

signs or barn stars, these vibrant displays originated amongst Pennsylvania Dutch immigrant groups and

often portray birds, hearts, stars, flowers, and any combination thereof. Dutch, in this context, is a

linguistic permutation of the word “Deutsch,” and these settlers were primarily from the Rhine region of

what would now be modern-day Germany. The signs are not a universal feature of PA Dutch culture,

though. While prevalent in more secular or Reformist Christian communities, you are very unlikely to

see Amish, Mennonite, or “Plain Dutch” barns decorated with a hex sign.

Popularized outside of the community in the 50s by artist and self-proclaimed Hexologist Johnny Ott,

there is some debate about the traditional nature of hex symbols and their origins in Old World

practices and Medieval Christian symbology. Ott claimed that hex signs contain magical properties and

are part of PA Dutch braucherei, or ritual healing. Described by the Glencairn Museum as “a veritable

wellspring of folk-religious expression that is at once symbolic, poetic, and imbued with meaning worthy

of serious attention and exploration,” these rituals are part of the broader tapestry of traditional

American faith healing practices. Others suggest practical considerations behind the hex sign, with the

bright-colored emblems serving more aesthetic purposes, as well as being prominent symbols of faith.

Mystic or not, symbols that regularly appear on hex signs do have origins in early Christianity and were

likely brought by those first settlers from their homelands. Pentangles, or pentagrams, are old-school

Christian iconography, being found on 1000-year-old churches and described in epic poems like Sir

Gawain and the Green Knight. Rosettes, too, are prevalent in early Christianity, though the genesis of

both symbols is ultimately much earlier.

The symbols that make up an individual hex sign generally have particular meanings prescribed to them.

One of the most prominent images in modern PA Dutch folk art, the distelfink (German for goldfinch),

represents good luck. Doubled up distelfinks, of course, entail double good luck and good fortune.

Hearts often mean love, whether fraternal or romantic, and tulips are commonly used to represent

faith. Other symbols, like rain and wheat, are used for prosperity and fertility. More traditional twelve-

pointed stars are believed to reference the twelve apostles. Aside from implied meaning, many of these

elements may be “chust fer nice,” as Milton Hill, a barn star artist from the early 1900s said.

While a very localized tradition, barn painting and hex signs have not become a lost art. Modern artists,

such as Eric Claypoole, have continued the tradition set down by his father Johnny Claypoole and

pioneers Johnny Ott and Milton Hill. Claypoole still paints barns, and provides demonstrations and

lectures for festivals and cultural groups. Additionally, groups like the Glencairn Museum and PA

German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University have been working to catalog and protect these

facets of local history.

If these iconic and vibrant signs have caught your interest, consider visiting Kutztown, PA during their

annual Folk Festival, or stopping by the PA German Heritage Center on your way through town. If

nothing else, keep your eyes peeled while on your feet or clipped into the pedals. You never know what

snippets of history are tucked away over the next hill, or proudly displayed on a barn.

SOURCES:

Hexology. Jacob and Jane Zook.
https://www.glencairnmuseum.org/newsletter/2019/3/19/hex-signs-sacred-and-celestial-symbolism-in-pennsylvania-dutch-barn-stars
https://www.kutztown.edu/about-ku/administrative-offices/pennsylvania-german-cultural-heritage-center.html
https://www.kutztownfestival.com/
https://www.glencairnmuseum.org/newsletter/2017/3/2/powwowing-in-pennsylvania
https://www.lcps.org/cms/lib4/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/10716/The%20Shield%20of%20Sir%20Gawain.pdf
https://claypoolehexsigns.com/
https://lehighvalleymarketplace.com/eric-claypoole-hex-sign-artist/
https://huntermyoder.com/eric-claypoole
https://www.pagerman.org/100-barns/
https://huntermyoder.com/milton-hill-barnstars

Roadside Attractions and Folk Traditions

From the Kitchen: Pumpkin Seed Salsa (Sikil Pak)