Editing Crescent (section)

{{Short description|Symbol of a lunar phase}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Multiple image | total_width = 300 | perrow = 2 | header = {{big|Crescent}}
| image1 = Crescent Moon (cropped).JPG
| image2 = Moon crescent symbol (fixed width).svg
| image3 = Ottoman crescent (fixed width).svg
| image4 = هلال رمضان (cropped).jpg
| footer = {{ubl|<u>Top left:</u> waxing crescent moon|<u>Top right:</u> open crescent{{efn|On an open crescent the tips are polar opposites on the orb of the moon.}}|<u>Lower left:</u> closing crescent{{efn|A closing crescent is made by removing the overlapping part of a smaller circle from a larger circle.}}|<u>Lower right:</u> crescent art in roundabout}}
}}

A '''crescent''' shape ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|r|ɛ|s|ən|t}}, {{IPAc-en|UKalso|ˈ|k|r|ɛ|z|ən|t}})<ref>{{etymology|enm|cressaunt|crescent-shaped ornaments}}; {{etymology|fro|creissant|crescent shape}}; {{etymology|la|crēscēns|growing, waxing}}.<br />
See e.g. the following:
* {{cite Dictionary.com|crescent}}
* {{cite Collins Dictionary|crescent}}
* {{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/crescent |title=crescent |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=2022-09-02 |archive-date=2021-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022163008/https://www.lexico.com/definition/crescent |url-status=dead }}</ref> is a [[symbol]] or [[emblem]] used to represent the [[lunar phase]] (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "[[sickle]] moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the [[Moon]] itself.

In [[Hindu iconography|Hindu Iconography]], [[Shiva]] is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his head, symbolising his control over time, as well as his attributes of both creation and destruction.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chwalkowski |first=Farrin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-22DQAAQBAJ&dq=shiva+depicted+crescent&pg=PA338 |title=Symbols in Arts, Religion and Culture: The Soul of Nature |date=2016-12-14 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-5728-4 |pages=338 |language=en}}</ref>

It is used as the [[astrological symbol]] for [[Moon (astrology)|the Moon]], and hence as the [[alchemical symbol]] for [[silver]]. It was also the emblem of [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]]/[[Artemis]], and hence represented [[virginity]]. In [[veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church]], it is associated with [[Mary, mother of Jesus]].

From its use as roof [[finial]] in [[Ottoman architecture|Ottoman mosques]], it has also become associated with [[Islam]], and the crescent was introduced as [[Religious symbolism in the United States military#Muslim|chaplain badge]] for Muslim [[United States military chaplains]] in 1993.<ref name=USchaplains>On December 14, 1992, the Army Chief of Chaplains requested that an insignia be created for future Muslim chaplains, and the design (a crescent) was completed January 8, 1993. Emerson, William K., ''Encyclopedia of United States Army Insignia and Uniforms''  (1996),  [https://books.google.com/books?id=trbBXKeHO3sC&pg=PA269 p. 269f].
Prior to its association with Islam, a crescent badge had already been used in the US military for the rank of commissary sergeant (Emerson 1996:261f).
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