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Star and crescent
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{{short description|Symbol}} {{for|the crescent moon associated with Islam, or Hilal|Islamic calendar}} {{use dmy dates|date=December 2022}} {{multiple image | align = right | total_width = | direction = vertical | image1 = Byzantium star and crescent.svg | caption1 = Ancient design of the star and crescent symbol as used in [[Byzantium]] in the 1st century BC. | image2 = Coin of Ardashir III, Arrajan mint (2).jpg | caption2 = The star and crescent symbol used in the minted coins of the [[Sassanian Empire]] from the [[3rd century]] until the [[7th century]]. This coin was coined under [[Ardashir III]]. | image3 = Stefan Lochner - Adoration of the Magi - WGA13342.jpg | caption3 = The Adoration of the Magi by [[Stephan Lochner]]; on the left, the star and crescent is depicted in the flag of representatives of Byzantium. }} The conjoined representation of a [[Star (heraldry)|star]] and a [[crescent]] is used in various historical contexts, including as a prominent symbol of the [[Ottoman Empire]], and in contemporary times, as a national symbol by some countries, and by some Muslims as a symbol of [[Islam]],<ref name="Glasse314" /> while other Muslims reject it as an Islamic symbol.<ref name="Fazli2009" /> It was developed in the [[Greek colony]] of [[Byzantium]] ca. 300 BC, though it became more widely used as the royal emblem of [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontic]] king [[Mithridates VI Eupator]] after he incorporated Byzantium into his kingdom for a short period.<ref>Andrew G. Traver, ''From Polis to Empire, The Ancient World, c. 800 B.C.βA.D. 500'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, p. 257</ref> During the 5th century, it was present in coins minted by the Persian [[Sassanian Empire]]; the symbol was represented in the coins minted across the empire throughout the Middle East for more than 400 years from the 3rd century until the fall of the Sassanians after the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]] in the 7th century.<ref>"The star and crescent are common Persian symbols, being a regular feature of the borders of Sassanian dirhems." Philip Grierson, ''Byzantine Coins'', Taylor & Francis, 1982, p118</ref> The conquering Muslim rulers kept the symbol in their coinage during the early years of the [[Rashidun Caliphate|caliphate]], as the coins were exact replicas of the Sassanian coins. Both elements of the symbol have a long history in the [[iconography]] of the [[Ancient Near East]] as representing either the [[Sun]] and [[Moon]] or the Moon and [[Venus|Venus (Morning Star)]] (or their divine personifications). It has been suggested that the crescent actually represents Venus,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bradley Schaefer |title=Heavenly Signs |journal=New Scientist |date=Dec 21, 1991 |pages=48β51}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=David Lance Goines |title=Inferential evidence for the pre-telescopic sighting of the crescent Venus |url=http://www.goines.net/Writing/venus.html |date=Oct 18, 1995}}</ref> or the Sun during an eclipse.<ref>This would explain cases where the inside curve of the crescent has a smaller radius of curvature than the outer, the opposite of what happens with the moon. {{cite journal |last1=Jay M. Pasachoff |title=Crescent Sun |journal=New Scientist |date=Feb 1, 1992 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/letter/mg13318066-400-letters-crescent-sun/}}</ref> Coins with star and crescent symbols represented separately have a longer history, with possible ties to older [[Mesopotamian]] iconography. The star, or Sun, is often shown within the arc of the crescent (also called '''star in crescent''', or '''star within crescent''', for disambiguation of depictions of a star and a crescent side by side).<ref> "There are also three cases [... viz., associated with the "[[Danubian Rider]] Religion"] where the star, figured as a radiate disc 'balancing the crescent moon', must represent Sol, balancing Luna who is represented as a crescent instead of in bust. The 'star in crescent' theme itself appears only once, on an engraved gem, accompanied by the lion and an indecipherable inscription [...] This theme is connected with the Orient and has a long history behind it in the Hittite, Babylonian, Assyrian, Sassanid and Iranian worlds. Campbell gives us valuable particulars. The heavenly bodies thus symbolized were seen as the powerful influence of cosmic fatalism guiding the destinies of men." Dumitru Tudor, Christopher Holme (trans.), ''Corpus Monumentorum Religionis Equitum Danuvinorum (CMRED)'' (1976), [https://books.google.com/books?id=utIUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA192 p. 192] (referencing Leroy A. Campbell, ''Mithraic Iconography and Ideology' '(1969), 93f.''</ref> In [[numismatics]] in particular, the term '''pellet within crescent''' is used in cases where the star is simplified to a single dot.<ref>e.g. ''Catalogue of the Greek coins in The British Museum'' (2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Xs8GAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA331 p. 311] (index).</ref> The combination is found comparatively rarely in late [[medieval]] and [[early modern]] heraldry. It rose to prominence with its adoption as the flag and national symbol of the [[Ottoman Empire]] and some of its administrative divisions ([[eyalet]]s and [[vilayet]]s) and later in the 19th-century Westernizing ''[[tanzimat]]'' (reforms). The [[Ottoman flag]] of 1844, with a white ''[[ay-yΔ±ldΔ±z]]'' ([[Turkish language|Turkish]] for "crescent-star") on a red background, continues in use as the [[Flag of Turkey|flag]] of the [[Republic of Turkey]], with minor modifications. Other states formerly part of the Ottoman Empire also used the symbol, including [[Flag of Libya|Libya]] (1951β1969 and after 2011), [[Flag of Tunisia|Tunisia]] (1831) and [[flag of Algeria|Algeria]] (1958). The same symbol was used in other [[national flag]]s introduced during the 20th century, including the flags of [[Flag of Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]] (1917), [[Flag of Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]] (1918), [[Flag of Pakistan|Pakistan]] (1947), [[Flag of Malaysia|Malaysia]] (1948), [[Flag of Singapore|Singapore]] (1959), [[Flag of Mauritania|Mauritania]] (1959), [[Flag of Azad Kashmir|Azad Kashmir]] (1974), [[Flag of Uzbekistan|Uzbekistan]] (1991), [[Flag of Turkmenistan|Turkmenistan]] (1991) and [[Flag of the Comoros|Comoros]] (2001). In the latter 20th century, the star and crescent have acquired a popular interpretation as a "[[symbols of Islam|symbol of Islam]]",<ref name="Glasse314" /> occasionally embraced by [[Arab nationalism]] or [[Islamism]] in the 1970s to 1980s but often rejected as erroneous or unfounded by Muslim commentators in more recent times.<ref name="Fazli2009" /> Unlike the [[Christian cross|cross]], which is a symbol of [[Jesus' crucifixion]] in [[Christianity]], there is no solid link that connects the star and crescent symbol with the concept of Islam. The connotation is widely believed to have come from the flag of the Ottoman Empire, whose prestige as an Islamic empire and caliphate led to the adoption of its state emblem as a symbol of Islam by association. [[Unicode]] introduced a "star and crescent" character in its [[Miscellaneous Symbols]] block, at U+262A (βͺ).
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