Dove Weathervane...peace at Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon, in Mount Vernon, Virginia, US, was the home of George and Martha Washington. Atop its cupola is a unique 1778 weathervane, designed by Washington himself. Copies of this iconic decoration are sold by Mount Vernon's gift shop (albeit brass, rather than the original's gold leaf).

See also: Main Weathervanes Article

George Washington (Mount Vernon) specified that it

"should like to have a bird...with an olive branch in its Mouth. The bird need not be large (for I do not expect that it will traverse with the wind and therefore may receive the real shape of a bird, with spread wings)."

What is the significance of a bird with an olive branch 🕊️ in its mouth? ‭Genesis 8:11 KJV explains ‬"...the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off." The dove's return marked the end of the Genesis flood. Perhaps Washington was signaling a parallel between the end of that crisis, and a hope that the end of the Revolutionary War would result in peace for the United States later in 1783.

For the rest of the story, see this:

https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/cupola-tower/#:~:text=After%20a%20ten%2Dyear%20delay,olive%20branch%20in%20its%20Mouth.

Picture ©️2014 by Karen Smith-Will