What causes the blotchy pattern on galvanised steel?

Galvanised sheet steel typically bears a patina of irregularly-shaped (although quite uniformly sized) blotches, some dull grey, others brighter silver and every shade between.

What are these blotches? Are they flat crystals of zinc?

The answer is yes, these are the individual zinc crystals.

The different shades result from the different (random) orientations of these crystals.