A system for visualization and quantification of ultrasound imaging data, the system comprising: a display unit ; a processor communicatively coupled to the display unit and to an ultrasound imaging apparatus for generating an image (112-1, 336-1, 436-1) from ultrasound data representative of a bodily structure and fluid flowing within the bodily structure, wherein the processor is configured to: estimate axial and lateral velocity components of the fluid flowing within the bodily structure; determine a plurality of flow directions within the image based on the axial and lateral velocity components; differentially encode the flow directions based on flow direction angle to generate a flow direction map ; and cause the display unit to concurrently display the image including the bodily structure overlaid with the flow direction map; wherein the processor is further configured to: encode the flow directions using a color key (302-*, 402-*) including at least three distinct colors assigned to three distinct flow directions and generating color gradients between each pair of adjacent colors to produce a color gradient for a full range of flow directions and to cause the display to display a visual representation of the color key. a display unit ; a processor communicatively coupled to the display unit and to an ultrasound imaging apparatus for generating an image (112-1, 336-1, 436-1) from ultrasound data representative of a bodily structure and fluid flowing within the bodily structure, wherein the processor is configured to: estimate axial and lateral velocity components of the fluid flowing within the bodily structure; determine a plurality of flow directions within the image based on the axial and lateral velocity components; differentially encode the flow directions based on flow direction angle to generate a flow direction map ; and cause the display unit to concurrently display the image including the bodily structure overlaid with the flow direction map; wherein the processor is further configured to: encode the flow directions using a color key (302-*, 402-*) including at least three distinct colors assigned to three distinct flow directions and generating color gradients between each pair of adjacent colors to produce a color gradient for a full range of flow directions and to cause the display to display a visual representation of the color key. estimate axial and lateral velocity components of the fluid flowing within the bodily structure; determine a plurality of flow directions within the image based on the axial and lateral velocity components; differentially encode the flow directions based on flow direction angle to generate a flow direction map ; and cause the display unit to concurrently display the image including the bodily structure overlaid with the flow direction map; wherein the processor is further configured to: encode the flow directions using a color key (302-*, 402-*) including at least three distinct colors assigned to three distinct flow directions and generating color gradients between each pair of adjacent colors to produce a color gradient for a full range of flow directions and to cause the display to display a visual representation of the color key. <EOS>