Fireworks Types & Definitions
Welcome to our guide to understanding all the various types of fireworks and definitions for important keywords. Whether you’re just getting started or are a seasoned pro, understanding your fireworks is key to creating a safe, spectacular show. Here you’ll find definitions of every firework—from aerial shells and roman candles to sparklers and fountains. We’ve broken down the terms so you know exactly what you’re buying and how each product works. Dive in, learn the lingo, and get ready to light up the night with confidence.
Aerial
Any fireworks item that shoots flaming balls into the air, such as a cake or mortar.
Assortment
A collection of fireworks items, generally consisting of fountains, sparklers, rockets, and firecrackers.
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.
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 pattern 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.
Cake
Sometimes referred to as “repeaters” or “multi-shot aerials”, a cake is an item that has a single fuse which is used to light several tubes in sequence. Cakes can have a variety of intricate aerial effects, including spinners, fish, flower bouquets, comets, crossettes, and other elements.
Candle
Another name for roman candle.
Chrysanthemum
A flower-like aerial pattern, usually resulting from a cake or mortar.
Comet
A type of star that leaves a trail of sparks as it flies through the air.
Cone
A type of fountain in the shape of a cone.
Confetti
Paper streamers in multiple colors that are propelled by a gas cartridge or by a small pyrotechnic charge.
Consumer Fireworks
Fireworks that have been approved by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
CPSC
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission, a federal agency responsible for testing and approving all consumer fireworks.
Crackle Effect
A fireworks effect that sounds like hundreds of snaps or crackles, usually accompanied by an aerial gold lace visual effect.
Crossette
A type of comet that breaks into multiple comets, usually forming a cross shape.
Dahlia
A shell that produces a starfish-like shape.
Day Time Effect
A type of fireworks that can be enjoyed better during the day time than the night time. Includes smoke items and parachute items.
Falling Leaves
A beautiful aerial effect that consists of glowing embers that tumble slowly in the air, flickering back and forth as they fall.
Firecracker
A fireworks item containing flash powder and wrapped in paper with a fuse attached.
Firefly
A stroboscopic tail effect that consists of many distinct bright flashes of light.
Fireworks
A device designed to be burned or ignited to yield a visible and/or audio effect.
Fish
An aerial effect that looks like a swarm of objects squirming through the air.
Flare
A cylindrical device containing a composition that burns for several minutes.
Flitter
Similar to glitter, flitter contains bright flashes of light in the trail left behind.
Floral Pattern
An aerial pattern that resembles a flower.
Fountain
A ground device that emits showers of sparks several feet into the air.
Fuse
An item resembling a string or wire that is used to light a fireworks device.
Glitter
A tail effect that contains flashes of light and small bursts lasting several seconds.
Ground Item
Ground items are fireworks lit on the ground that do not shoot objects into the sky.
Helicopter
A device that spins very fast and lifts high into the sky, only to explode or burst into an aerial effect.
Jumping Jacks
Similar to firecrackers, but they spin rapidly and emit red and green sparks.
Mine
An aerial device that shoots stars into the sky in an upward spray pattern.
Missile
A sky rocket without a stick, often rotates or is shot from a tube.
Mortar
A tube used to launch aerial shells into the sky.
Multi-Shot Aerial
Another name for a cake or repeater.
Novelty
Fireworks items limited in their potential to harm people or property.
Palm Tree
An aerial effect that resembles a palm tree.
Parachute
A paper projectile expelled from a mortar tube, floats down slowly.
Peony
An aerial effect that looks like a spherical ball of colored lights.
Pistil
A ball of stars inside another ball of stars.
Planes
A device that spins and bursts aerially.
Punk
A bamboo stick used to light fireworks safely.
Reloadable Aerial
An aerial mortar that includes mortar tubes and shells.
Report
A bang or loud explosion effect.
Ring Shell
A shell that produces a ring-shaped aerial pattern.
Rising Tail
A tail created as a shell rises.
Rocket
A tube-like device that propels itself into the air.
Roman Candle
A tube that shoots flaming balls out one end.
Safe and Sane
Fireworks that do not have aerial or explosive effects.
Salute
A loud explosive item often found in aerial fireworks.
Saturn Shell
A shell that produces a ring around a central burst.
Serpent
A spinning star giving off large amounts of light.
Shell
An aerial item fired into the sky that bursts with stars.
Silver Salute
An M80 firecracker with a silver tube.
Single Shot Aerial
A one-time use mortar with a pre-installed shell.
Sky Flyer
A spinning device that rises and bursts in the sky.
Sky Rocket
A stick-stabilized rocket.
Smoke Item
Fireworks that produce smoke effects.
Snakes
Pellets that burn and produce a long carbon trail.
Snaps
Paper balls filled with cap composition that bang when thrown.
Sparkler
A handheld item emitting sparks when lit.
Spinner
A star that spins and emits bright light.
Star
A pellet that produces pyrotechnic effects when ignited.
Strobe
A blinking or flashing effect.
Tail
A burning trail following an aerial star.
Tourbillion
A spinning star emitting bright light.
Tube
Another name for a mortar.
UFO
A spinning device that rises and bursts in the air.
Wheel
A stationary spinning device emitting sparks.
Whistle
A tube filled with composition that makes a howling sound.
Willow
An aerial effect resembling a giant gold willow tree.
Yellow
A color produced by sodium-based compounds.
Zipper
A cake effect that fires shots in a zig-zag pattern quickly.