Distelfink
![An ornate Taufschein, or baptismal certificate, bordered by two distelfinks](/Images/godic/202501/09/Frakturcertificate2522.jpg")
A distelfink is a stylized goldfinch, probably based on the European variety It frequently appears in Pennsylvania Dutch folk art. It represents happiness and good fortune and the Pennsylvania German people, and is a common theme in hex signs and in fraktur. The word distelfink (literally 'thistle-finch') is the German name for the European goldfinch.