View source for Barnstar

{{Short description|Barn decoration in the United States}}
{{for|the use of barnstars within the Wikipedia community|Wikipedia:Barnstars|selfref=y}}
[[Image:BarnstarProud.jpg|thumb|right|A barnstar]]

A '''barnstar''' (or '''barn star''', '''primitive star''', or '''Pennsylvania star''') is a painted object or image, often in the shape of a [[five-pointed star]] but occasionally in a circular "wagon wheel" style, used to decorate a [[barn]] in some parts of the United States. They have no structural purpose but may be considered lucky, akin to a [[horseshoe]] mounted over a doorway.<ref name="garden">{{cite web|url=http://www.artistic-garden.com/barn-star/|title=History of the Barn Star|website=artistic-garden.com|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20130624064843/http://www.artistic-garden.com/barn-star/|archive-date = 24 June 2013|first = Claudia |last =Brownlie |date = October 29, 2008}}</ref> They are especially common in [[Pennsylvania]] and frequently seen in German-American farming communities. They are also found in Canada, particularly in the province of [[Ontario]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Piccolo|first=Samuel|title=Stars on houses: What's up|url=https://www.pelhamtoday.ca/local-news/stars-on-houses-whats-up-6346213|access-date=|date = December 31, 2020|work = Pelham Today|language=en-US}}</ref>

==History==
Barnstars were meant to represent the mark of the builder but became more frequently used for aesthetic purposes and were added to the building after construction was complete.<ref>{{cite web |last=Blitzkrieg |first= |title=Barn Stars in Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania |url=http://www.thebarnjournal.org/stories/story018/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208082624/http://www.thebarnjournal.org/stories/story018/index.html |archive-date=8 February 2007 |access-date=2007-03-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2005/10/11/news/tuesday/news03.txt |archive-url=https://archive.today/20090730205917/http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2005/10/11/news/tuesday/news03.txt |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-07-30 |title=Barn Dons Old Fashioned Stars |access-date=2007-03-08 }}</ref> Enthusiasts have traced a number of wooden barnstars to individual builders in the Pennsylvania area, where numerous examples can still be seen.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebarnjournal.org/stories/story018/index.html|title=Barn Stars in Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania|website=thebarnjournal.org}}</ref>

Barnstars were used in the United States during the 18th century and as late as 1870 in Pennsylvania, where their popularity increased greatly following the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. Their regular use preceded that time, however, and stars were commonplace on large buildings, particularly factories, in pre-war [[Richmond, Virginia]].<ref name="garden"/>

Barnstars remain a popular form of decoration and design, and modern houses are sometimes decorated with simple, metal, five-pointed stars that the makers describe as "barn-stars".<ref>{{cite web | last = Jackson | first = Kate M. | title = Stargazing | publisher = [[The Boston Globe]] | date = August 17, 2006 | url = http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/articles/2006/08/17/stargazing/ | access-date = 2014-07-15}}</ref> They are often deliberately [[Distressing|distressed]] or rusted, alluding to the traditional decoration.

==Other star-shaped plates==
On older buildings in the [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] area of the United States, it is still possible to find barnstar-like building adornments that are painted, rather than wooden or metal, known as [[hex sign]]s. Strictly speaking, they are defined apart from barnstars and visually bear only passing resemblance, but the two are often confused and their names are even regarded as interchangeable.<ref name="garden"/> Some hex signs incorporate star shapes, while others may take the form of a rosette or contain pictures of birds and other animals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artistic-garden.com/hex-signs/|title=Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs|website=artistic-garden.com|access-date=2019-06-06|archive-date=2016-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502043859/http://www.artistic-garden.com/hex-signs/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The term barnstar has been applied to [[anchor plate#Gallery|star-shaped anchor plates]] that are used for structural reinforcement, particularly on masonry buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. These are made of cast iron and are used as anchor plates serving as the [[Washer (mechanical)|washers]] for [[tie rod]]s. The anchor-rod-and-plate assembly serves to brace the masonry wall against tilting or lateral bowing.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="190" caption="Barnstars" and="" star="" anchor="" plates="">
File:Strasburg 51 E Main.JPG|House with a barnstar in [[Strasburg, Pennsylvania]]
File:Strasburg E Main 109.JPG|House with star anchor plates
File:Barnstar anchor plate.jpg|"Barnstar" anchor plate
</gallery>

== Internet "barnstars" ==
[[File:Original Barnstar Hires.png|thumb|A commonly used "barnstar" image on Wikimedia projects]]
{{anchor|As award}} Some [[Wiki]]-based communities give their users an award called a "barnstar" as a continuation of the "barn raising" metaphor. The practice originated on [[MeatballWiki]] and was adopted by Wikipedia in 2003.<ref>{{Cite conference|publisher=ACM|doi=10.1145/2818048.2819976|isbn=9781450335928|pages=729–743|last1=Zhu|first1=Haiyi|last2=Kraut|first2=Robert E.|last3=Kittur|first3=Aniket|title=A Contingency View of Transferring and Adapting Best Practices Within Online Communities|book-title=Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing|location=New York, NY, USA|series=CSCW '16|date=2016}} {{closed access}} [http://haiyizhu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/BestPracticeTransfer.pdf Author's copy]</ref> The image that is frequently used for this purpose is actually a photo of one of the structural anchor plates, not of a proper barnstar.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

==See also==
*[[Barn quilt]]
*[[Hex sign]]
*[[Moravian star]]
*[[Pentagram]]
*[[Pow-wow (folk magic)|Pow-wow]], [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] folk magic
*[[Red star]]
*[[Star (polygon)]]
*[[Wikipedia:Barnstars]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commonscat multi|Barnstars}}
*{{wiktionary-inline|barnstar}}

[[Category:Visual motifs]]
[[Category:Architectural elements]]
[[Category:Building materials]]
[[Category:Fasteners]]
[[Category:Luck]]
[[Category:Lucky symbols]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania Dutch culture]]
[[Category:Star symbols]]