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Crescent and star |
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Symbols of Islam. (Discuss) |
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Islamic flags. (Discuss) |
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This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (November 2007) |
The Islamic 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). The two signs together or the crescent only is often regarded as a symbol of Islam. The crescent and star, while generally regarded as Islamic symbols today, have long been used in Asia Minor and by the ancient Turks, earlier than the advent of Islam. According to archaeological excavations, Göktürks used the crescent and star figure on their coins. The 1500-year-old coin includes three crescent moon figures and a star near a person. Thus, one legend holds that the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman I, had a dream in which the crescent moon stretched from one end of the earth to the other. Taking this as a good omen, he chose to keep the crescent and make it the symbol of his dynasty. There is speculation that the five points on the star represent the five pillars of Islam, but this is pure conjecture. The five points were not standard on the Ottoman flags, and it is still not standard on flags used in the Muslim world today.
In Unicode, the "star and crescent" symbol is U+262A (☪).
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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. A number of Muslim-majority nations, such as Algeria, Tunisia, Comoros, Mauritania, Malaysia, Pakistan, Maldives, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and non-sovereign nations such as East Turkestan use it on their national flag, inspired by the flag of Turkey officially adopted in 1844 . The crescent moon and star symbol actually pre-dates Islam. The crescent was the symbol of the Sassanid Empire of Persia and is prominently displayed on the crowns of its rulers.1 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 Asian and Siberian Turks 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.
The Greek city of Byzantium first produced coins with the crescent and star symbol in the 4th century BC and also used the emblem on their flag as an official governing symbol. According to legend, this was to honour the moon-goddess Hecate, who the inhabitants believed had saved the city from attack by Philip II of Macedon in 340-339 BC23. The crescent and star were used as the symbol of the Greek city of Byzantium for 8 centuries before adopted by the Byzantines as the banner of Constantinople. According to legend 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 attributed to their patron Goddess Artemis (Diana in Roman mythology) whose symbol was the crescent moon.4 In honor of Artemis the citizens adopted the crescent moon as their symbol (though some legends attribute the adoption to a Roman victory against the Goths on the first day of the lunar month). When the city became the Christian Roman Constantinople in 330 AD, Constantine also added the Virgin Mary's star on the flag.citation needed As such, it has been claimed that when the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, they adopted the city's existing flag and symbol.56 However, an ancient coin found in Central Asia has recently shown that the crescent and moon was a Turkic symbol long before the Turks came in contact with the Eastern Roman Empire.7
Since 1918, the flag of Azerbaijan Republic also includes star and crescent, but with a subtle difference: the star has eight points. The crescent 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.[4]
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 symbolizes 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.
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