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The Common Terms of Fireworks

December 16,2022

This time we are going to learn about some common terms of fireworks.

Aerial– Any fireworks item that shoots flaming balls into the air, such as a cake or mortar.

AHJ – Is an acronym for “the authority having jurisdiction”. Generally refers to the fire marshal, local police department, local fire department, or whoever is responsible for regulating and monitoring fireworks in your area.

Ash Can – Ash can is another name for a silver salute. True ash cans became illegal in 1966. Legal ash cans today contain only 50 milligrams of flash powder.

Assortment – A collection of fireworks items, generally consisting of fountains, sparklers, rockets, and firecrackers.

ATFE (ATF) – The Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. The ATFE is responsible for regulating the sale, manufacturing, importation, storage, and use of commercial fireworks and explosives. The ATFE does not regulate the legal use of consumer fireworks.

Barrage – A group of items fired all at once.

Battery– A battery is a group of similar items that is constructed as a single bundle, such as a missile battery of a roman candle battery. Battery is also one of our best selling products. We have experience in products for the Germany, Holland, France, Italy, UK, Slovenia, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, US, South America, and many other countries.

Black Match – Used in the manufacture of fireworks, black match is a type of fuse that is made by saturating cotton string in black powder. Unconfined, black match burns at an approximate rate of one inch per second. See also quick match (below).

Black Powder – Also known as gun powder, black powder is a mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur. It is the principal ingredient in most fireworks because it is not sensitive to shock and its burning properties are predictable and slow. Generally used as a propellant to shoot flaming balls, and in the manufacture of stars for aerial effects.

Bombette – A Bombette is an exploding star, usually ejected from a roman candle or fountain. Bombettes are limited to a maximum charge of 130 milligrams of flash powder in legal consumer fireworks.

Bottle Rocket – A small rocket that is approximately the size of a standard firecracker, one and one-half inches long, with a thin stick attached to it that is approximately 12 inches in length. Bottle rockets can contain whistle effects and may contain a report (loud bang).

Bouquet Pattern – A bouquet patter is a floral-shaped aerial pattern of stars, usually in a spherical shape (see the definition for peony).

Brocade – A spider like effect in the sky, much like fine lace. The brocade effect is generally a silver tail effect, and is brighter than the willow or tiger tail effect. Most brocade effects use glitter to produce the long brocade tails.