The word 'distelfink' (literally 'thistle-finch') is the German name for the European goldfinch.

A distelfink is a stylized goldfinch, probably based on the European variety It frequently appears in Pennsylvania Dutch folk art.

On the day of her birth, a traveling worker painted a giant sign of The Triple Distelfink on her parents' stable.

Later, Gladstone was born on his mother's birthday, and during one of his childhood birthday parties, lightning had hit him while he had been hoisted on the upside-down distelfink sign by Donald.

Daphne Duck, according to Don Rosa's story "The Sign of The Triple Distelfink", is the daughter of Humperdink Duck and Elvira Coot.

The American cartoonist Keno Don Rosa used a triple distelfink sign as the origin for Gladstone Gander's remarkable luck (story: "The Sign of the Triple Distelfink").