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The star and crescent is a symbol consisting of a crescent with a star at the concave side. In its modern form, the star is usually shown with five points (though in earlier centuries a higher number of points was often used). It is often regarded as a symbol of Islam.
In Unicode, the "Star and crescent" symbol is U+262A ().
Historical Symbol
The star and crescent historically was a symbol of the Ottoman Empire, but later became associated with Islam in general. Now its popularity among Muslims makes it comparable to the Christian cross and the Star of David. Many Muslim nations such as Pakistan use it on their national flag, as does the secular Republic of Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire.
The crescent moon and star symbol actually pre-dates Islam by several thousand years.Information on the origins of the symbol are difficult to ascertain, but most sources agree that these ancient celestial symbols were in use by the peoples of Central Asia and Siberia in their worship of sun, moon, and sky gods. The star and crescent (with the crescent under the star, which was simply a round circle) were also widely used in ancient Ethiopia and South Arabia (modern day Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia). Its image can still be seen on the Hawulti at Matara, Eritrea and all of the Aksumite coins prior to its conversion to Christianity, for example. According to some reports, the Greek colony of Byzantium also used the emblem on their flag as an official governing symbol. In 339 BC the city of Byzantium, (later known as Constantinople and then Istanbul), won a decisive battle under a brilliant waxing moon which they attributated to their patron Goddess Artemis whose symbol was the crescent moon.* When the city became the Christian Constantinople in 330 AD, Constantine also added the Virgin Mary's star on the flag. When the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, they adopted the city's existing flag and symbol. Legend holds that the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman had a vision of a crescent moon which he adopted as the Ottoman Empire's symbol when Constantinople fell.
The cresent moon and star were not completely abandoned by the Christian world after the fall of Constantinople. To date the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem official church flag is a labarum of white with a church building with two towers and on either side of the arms, at the top, are the outline in black of a crescent moon facing center, and a star/sun with rays.*
The predominantly Sunni Muslim ethnic Bosniaks use a similar flag; as their native country Bosnia and Herzegovina is also homeland to two other constituent peoples, Serbs and Croats, the flag is not the official flag of the country.
The star possibly symbolises Venus. Venus indeed may often appear prominently close to the Moon at the first sighting of the new crescent (the hilal) after New Moon, usually shortly after sunset, which marks the start of the first day of a new month in the lunar Islamic calendar.
Symbol of Kappa Sigma Fraternity
The Star and Crescent is also one of the symbols of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and is as follows: "The Star and Crescent shall not be worn by every man, but only by him who is worthy to wear it. He must be a gentleman ... a man of honor and courage ... a man of zeal, yet humble ... an intelligent man ... a man of truth ... one who tempers action with wisdom and, above all else, one who walks in the light of God." (E. Bradford Holbrouk Jr., Sigma '63)
See also
"Star and crescent"