A weather vane is a tool that is used to identify the direction of the wind. Weather vanes are usually found on top of buildings and in other open air places like gardens, lawns, barns, garages, and more. There are three types of metal weather vanes: wrought iron, cast iron and steel. Wrought iron weather vanes are heavy weight, which makes them very durable. They are very functional and also look good. They can be mounted anywhere—in the garden, lawn, rooftops, and more. Often designed to look like antiques, they can be used as garden décor rather than just weather vanes on the roof. They are generally given a black coated finish.

Weather vanes or wind vanes are one of the oldest tools used by man to measure wind direction. They have ornamented buildings for thousands of years. Wrought iron weather vanes are just as popular as copper weather vanes for their practicality as well as for their beauty. They are available in several designs, such as simple arrows, shapes of animals, birds, humans, crests, exotic figurines, or any combination of these. The most common shapes are roosters, Eagles, attack Eagles, ascending geese, ducks, blue herons, pelicans, doves, quail, cows, white horses, bulls, foxes, pigs, golden retrievers, cats and mice, deer, moose, elks, dolphins, whales, bass, sailfish, sailboats, mermaids, lighthouses, angels, pine trees, locomotives, planes, biplanes, low wing planes, moons, suns, stars, arrows, banners, flags, golfers, firemen, lamplighters, handsaws, and more.

Wrought iron weather vanes are also available in several models such as deck or fence weather vanes, lawn weather vanes, roof top weather vanes, table top weather vanes, and more. They are also provided with the necessary accessories and hardware like cupolas, mounting shafts, roof mount bases, spindles, directionals, brackets, and stands. Modern copper wind vanes are also mounted with an anemometer, a device for measuring the speed of the wind. They may also be connected to a remote reading station. Modern weather vanes are rust free and maintenance free. Even today, weather vane artists are enjoying the opportunity to create new kinds of wrought iron weather vane forms in addition to recreating more traditional antique ones.