A cute decoration that you can often find above the door at the top of a barn is a barn star

You can paint them on or make them out of metal stars. They are sometimes replaced with hex signs or quilt blocks instead.

These things are there for a reason, and it’s probably not what you thought.

It turns out that German-American farmers think Barn stars are very important.

They are put on top of barns to keep bad things away or to help the farmer’s crops grow well.

It’s interesting that each one can be a different color and mean a different thing.

For example, a green barn star means that crops will grow well and will be fertile. But blue or black barn stars mean that the farmer, their family, and their goods are safe.

Brown, on the other hand, stands for friendship. The history of barn stars is interesting.

Barn Stars

A barn star was first put on a barn in the 1830s. These days, barn stars are kind of trendy.

Each symbol is a change made to German folk art from Europe that was brought over.

The Amish are known for living very simple lives, away from modern technology and pop culture.

The practice of barn stars is just one of many that have been passed down through the years in this area.

What’s even more interesting is that for someone whose family has strong ties to Pennsylvania Dutch values, things that are often linked have very different meanings.

Patrick Donmoyer said it’s important to know that there are two practices that run parallel to each other: “There are the barn stars and then there are the hex signs.”