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A star-like figure of radiating points marking the cardinal directions on a map or chart.
Also known as: Wind rose, Star on a map, Direction star
A compass rose shows which way the map is oriented. On a nautical chart it often shows two roses at once — true north and magnetic north — because the difference between them is a navigational quantity rather than a decoration.
Marks the cardinal directions on a map or chart, so a reader can align what is drawn with the ground or the sea.
Contexts: Navigation, Maps
Is drawn on nautical charts as a double ring giving true and magnetic north together, with the angle between them stated — the variation a navigator must apply to a compass bearing.
Contexts: Navigation
Descends from the wind rose of medieval portolan charts, which named directions after winds rather than compass points, and kept the elaborate points long after the naming changed.
Contexts: History, Navigation, Maps
A circle from which four long points radiate to the cardinal directions and four or more shorter points fill the gaps between them, the northern point usually elaborated or marked with a letter.
Orientation and distance, the two things a map must state before it can be used.
Both state orientation; the arrow is the reduced form of the rose.