compass rose

American  

noun

1. Navigation. a circle divided into 32 points or 360° numbered clockwise from true or magnetic north, printed on a chart or the like as a means of determining the course of a vessel or aircraft.

2. a similar design, often ornamented, used on maps to indicate the points of the compass.

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compass rose British  

noun

1. a circle or decorative device printed on a map or chart showing the points of the compass measured from true north and usually magnetic north

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Example Sentences

One extraordinary map from 1834 shown in the book compares the lengths of the world’s rivers in lines that branch outward from a central compass rose.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

Printed on delicate yellow paper that was almost translucent, “The Americana Treasure Map” was decorated with drawings of galleons, pirates and a compass rose embellished with a skull and crossbones.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2023

Wisely, Anshaw keeps the national politics mostly offstage, alluding to them just enough to lend a sense of proportion — not so much counterpoint as compass rose — to the fictional events she maps.

From New York Times • Oct. 1, 2019

A blue compass rose with an orange northward arrow is laid over an empty section of each page, and each page is given a district name.

From The New Yorker • May 23, 2019

It was a compass rose that pointed in different directions.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova