![]() In the ancient compasses the North direction was marked by a spearhead (which was indication of ‘Tramontane’ or the Northern Wind’). Boxing the Compassįor a relatively Modern Western Apprentice, one of the first tasks in previous times was to know all the directions marked on the compass. It was the Chinese, who divided the Compass into 12 Major directions based on the signs of the Zodiac. The 32 Cardinal Points on the compass rose from the direction of Eight Major Winds, the Eight Half Wind and 16 Quarter Winds. And on routing charts still one can find those wind roses! The Compass Rose, originally, was used to indicate the direction of wind (and it was called wind rose). These markings served the purpose of finding the direction of the winds and were put on the chart in a highly decorative manner. If you look closely above, the direction pointers resembles petals of the Rose and hence the term Compass Rose was used to describe such markings. The word portolan comes from the Italian portulano, meaning “related to ports or harbors“, and which since at least the 17th century designates “a collection of sailing directions” (Source: Wikipedia) These charts were said to designed in Mediterranean basin and were regarded as highly accurate charts of their times. The evolution of Compass Rose from Ancient Charts to Modern Charts The History of Compass RoseĬompass roses first appeared on Charts in 1300’s when the Portolan Charts first made appearance. Let us first see how compass roses’ were marked on ancient charts and on modern charts. But have you ever wondered why our Navigational charts has something called as Compass ‘Rose’ and why is it called so? We all know how much indispensable it is onboard. Navigation at sea cannot be imagined without a Compass. ![]()
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