FROM THE HEART WITH GINI RIFKIN: The Compass Rose, not just a pretty image.

Thursday, February 26, 2026

The Compass Rose, not just a pretty image.

Did your historical or contemporary hero use a compass in his travels? The idea of the modern compass started a long time ago.

The Chinese measured direction based on the 12 signs of the zodiac; the Arabs used the stars and constellations. The Europeans relied on the winds blowing in the Mediterranean so the precursors to the compass rose, was the stella maris (star of the sea) and the wind rose.

This device indicated the directions of the eight major winds, the eight half-winds and the sixteen quarter-winds making the 32 points corresponding to the thirty-two headings of the mariner's compass.

In the1300's, portolan charts first made their appearance. These were charts frequently drawn on vellum (generally calfskin) which showed coastal features and ports. The availability of ports and harbors was especially important as ships were smaller often needing refuge or a place to beach for maintenance.

As far as navigation went, the early renderings on the portolan maps did not take into account the curvature of the Earth, and so were not useful in crossing open ocean. But they were a great help for dentification of landmarks and harbors, in the Mediterranean, Black, or Red Seas.

The term "rose" in compass rose is derived from the figure's compass points resembling the flower.

For western apprentice seamen, one of the first things they had to know were the names of the points. Using the original Mediterranean words for the eight winds, naming them all off perfectly was known as "boxing the compass".

There is no absolute standard for drafting a compass rose, and each school of cartographers seems to have developed their own style.

On the east side of the rose there was often a cross, indicating the direction to Paradise long thought to be in the east.

Today, wind roses are used by meteorologists to depict wind frequencies from different directions at a location. The compass rose is used in global-positioning systems (GPS) and similar equipment and devices.