Hex Sign Mystery Solved!

One misconception is that the term “Pennsylvania Dutch refers to the Lancaster County Amish alone. William Penn’s promise of religious freedom brought many immigrants from Germany including Amish, Mennonites, Dutch Quakers, Seventh-Day Baptist and Schwenkfelders. Those German speaking settlers were all known as Pennsylvania Dutch and are broken down into two groups, “Plain” and “Fancy”. Plain people consist of Amish, Mennonite and Brethren. The Fancy category includes the Lutherans, Reformed and Moravians.

A myth and fallacy born out of the tourist industry is that hex signs are Amish when actually religious beliefs forbid the Amish and some other plain groups from using them. These groups do not use hex signs to decorate their buildings because they are considered fancy and worldly. Other sects, the “Pennsylvania Fancy” do have hex signs on their barns. Many plain sects, however, will use designs on their quilts because a quilt is functional and a necessity.

The term “Hex” has mistakenly been thought of as a form of witchcraft when actually it was born from the six-pointed stars that often adorned ”Pennsylvania Fancy” barns. The German word for six was “sechs” which sounds like hex. It is more likely that these designs are statements of faith and the yearning for love, luck, health, friends, and so on.

Written By,

Darcy Groff and Veda Lapp
Shades of Country, Bird-in-Hand, PA