Editing Finial (section)

== In architecture ==
[[File:Gopuram - View of the top portion. Chennakesava Temple , Belur 01.jpg|thumb|[[Kalasha (finial)|Kalasha]] finials on top of a [[gopuram]]]]

=== On roofs ===
[[File:Sirrako slate roof.jpg|thumb|A slate roof in [[Syrrako]] (Greece), built with a curved valley layout and finials on top.]]
Decorative roof-finials are a common feature of Malaysian religious and residential architecture.<ref name=":0" /> In [[Malacca]], [[Malaysia]], there are 38 mosques with traditional roof finials, with layered and crown-shaped designs, which are known as ''Makhota Atap Masjid''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Zakaria|first1=Ros Mahwati Ahmad|last2= Ismail|first2= Nurfarahhanna |last3= Ramli|first3= Zuliskandar|last4= Ali|first4= Muhammad Shafiq Mohd|date= 14 July 2019|title= Mapping the "Mahkota Atap Masjid" or Decorative Roof Finial of Traditional Mosques in Malacca|url= https://ebpj.e-iph.co.uk/index.php/EBProceedings/article/view/1760 |journal= Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal|language= en|volume= 4 |issue=1 1|pages= 129–136|doi= 10.21834/e-bpj.v4i11.1760|issn= 2398-4287|doi-access= free}}</ref> On mosques built after the 20th century, these finials have been replaced by "bulbous domes".<ref name=":0" /> Other terms for roof finials include: ''Tunjuk Langit'' and ''Buah Buton'' ([[East Malaysia|East Coast]]) as well as ''Buah Gutung'' ([[Kelantan]] and [[Terengganu]]).<ref name=":0" /> The ''Makhota Atap Masjid'' finials are made of mixed concrete, and the ''Buah Buton'' are made of wood.<ref name=":0" />

In [[Japanese architecture]], [[Chigi (architecture)|''chigi'']] are finials that were used atop [[Shinto shrine]]s in [[Ise Grand Shrine|Ise]] and [[Izumo-taisha|Izumo]] and the [[Tokyo Imperial Palace|imperial palace]].<ref>{{Cite book|last= Waterson|first= Roxana|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wDjRAgAAQBAJ|title= Living House: An Anthropology of Architecture in South-East Asia|date=22 May 2012|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-0601-7|language=en}}</ref>

In [[Java]] and [[Bali]], a rooftop finial is known as ''mustaka'' or ''kemuncak''.

In [[Thailand]] finials feature on domestic and [[Thai temple art and architecture|religious buildings]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1= Sthapitanond|first1= Nithi|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hC5TMZ5QTV0C&pg=PP1|title= Architecture of Thailand: A Guide to Tradition and Contemporary Forms|last2= Mertens|first2= Brian|date= 2012|publisher= Editions Didier Millet|isbn= 978-981-4260-86-2 |language=en}}</ref> [[Hti]] is a kind of finial found on [[Myanmar architecture|Burmese Buddhist temples]] and [[Burmese pagoda|pagodas]]. On [[stupa|Buddhist stupa]]s, the [[Chatra (umbrella)|layered umbrella]] (Skt. ''chhatra''; Pali: ''chhatta'') tiers have cosmological significance as representing the realms of [[heaven]]s or the trunk of a cosmic tree.<ref>{{Cite book|last1= Conway|first1= Hazel|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FtvqA0_Id3sC&pg=PP10|title= Understanding Architecture: An Introduction to Architecture and Architectural History|last2= Conway|first2= Rowan|last3= Roenisch|first3= Rowan|date= 2005 |publisher= Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-32059-7|language=en}}</ref> Even the stupa itself (comparatively smaller) can be a finial to a [[Stupa]] or other [[Buddhist temple|Buddhist religious structure]].

The [[Mandir kalash|kalasha]] is a finial on [[Hindu temple]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dhaky|first=M. A.|date=1974|title=The "Ākāśaliṅga" Finial|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3249703|journal=Artibus Asiae|volume=36|issue=4|pages=307–315|doi=10.2307/3249703|jstor=3249703|issn=0004-3648|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the [[Dravidian architecture|Dravidian style]] of [[Hindu architecture|temple architecture]], the kalasha is placed on top of a dome with an inverted lotus flower shape in between.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Hardy|first=Adam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aU0hCAS2-08C&pg=PR9|title=Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation : the Karṇāṭa Drāviḍa Tradition, 7th to 13th Centuries|date=1995|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-312-0|language=en}}</ref> There may also be lotus petals at the top, before the kalasha narrows to a single point, or bindu.<ref name=":1" />

There are two guldastas, or finials, per facade at [[Humayun's Tomb]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=ASHER|first1=CATHERINE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ctLNvx68hIC|title=Architecture of Mughal India|last2=Asher|first2=Catherine Blanshard|last3=Asher|first3=Catherine Ella Blanshard|last4=Asher|first4=Catherine B.|date=24 September 1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-26728-1|language=en}}</ref>

Finials are decorative elements in a variety of American domestic [[architectural style]]s, including [[French Colonial#In the United States|French colonial]], [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]], [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]], and [[Romanesque Revival architecture in the United Kingdom|Romanesque Revival]].<ref>{{Cite book|last= Carley|first=Rachel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8aiSslZKFoC|title= The Visual Dictionary of American Domestic Architecture |date=15 March 1997|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-8050-4563-5|language=en}}</ref>

Roof finials can be made from a variety of materials including [[clay]], [[metal]], or [[wood]].

A [[folklore]] tradition in the eastern [[United States]] portrays finials as discouraging [[witch]]es on broomsticks from landing locally.<ref>
{{cite web
| url          = https://robinneweiss.com/2016/06/06/a-fondness-for-finials/
| title        = A Fondness for Finials
| last         = Weiss
| first        = Robinne
| date         = 6 June 2016
| access-date  = 11 July 2023
| quote        = Folklore in the eastern U.S. suggests that finial posts were not just attractive, but also prevented witches from landing their broomsticks on the roof.
}}
</ref>

=== Flagpoles ===
[[File:Drapeau-3e-reg-suisse-napoleon-p1030181.jpg|thumb|[[French Imperial Eagle]] finial on a regiment banner of the ''[[Grande Armée]]'']]
{{See also|glossary of vexillology#Flag elements}}A "ball-style" finial is often mounted to the top of a stationary [[Flagpole#Flagpoles|flagpole]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Koppes |editor1-first=Wayne F. |editor2-last=Roehm |editor2-first=Jack M. |title=Metal Flagpole Manual |year=1980 |location=Chicago, Illinois |publisher=National Association of Architectural Metal Manufacturers |page= 21}}</ref> The United States [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Navy|Navy]], [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]], and [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] employ a variety of different finials depending on the flag in question, the Marines and Coast Guard deferring to the Navy's protocols.<ref>[http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r840_10.pdf#page=61 Army Regulation 840-10 ''Flags, Guidons, Streamers, Tabards, and Automobile and Aircraft Plates'', Chapter 8 "Flagstaffs and Flagstaff Heads (Finials)", §&nbsp;8-2, 1 November 1998] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607221710/http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r840_10.pdf |date=7 June 2010 }}</ref>