Editing Solar symbol (section)

== Rayed depictions ==
{{further information|Sun (heraldry)|Mullet (heraldry)|Sunburst|Sun of May}}
[[File:C+B-Egypt-Fig12-AkhnatenWorshippingSun.PNG|thumb|upright|[[Akhenaten]] worshipping [[Aten]] (14th century BC; 1903 drawing)]]
A circular disk with alternating triangular and wavy rays emanating from it is a frequent symbol or artistic depiction of the sun.

=== Antiquity ===
{{further information|Aten|Sol Invictus|Vergina Sun|Radiate crown|Star and crescent}}
The ancient Mesopotamian "star of [[Shamash]]" could be represented with either eight wavy rays, or with four wavy and four triangular rays.

The [[Vergina Sun]] (also known as the Star of Vergina, Macedonian Star, or Argead Star) is a rayed solar symbol appearing in [[ancient Greek art]] from the 6th to 2nd centuries BC. The Vergina Sun appears in art variously with sixteen, twelve, or eight triangular rays.

''Bianchini's [[planisphere]]'', produced in the 2nd century,<ref name=imss>{{cite web
| url = http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/galileopalazzostrozzi/object/BianchinisPlanisphere.html
| title = Bianchini's planisphere
| publisher = Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza (Institute and Museum of the History of Science)
| location = Florence, Italy
| access-date = 17 March 2010
}}</ref>
has a [[circlet]] with rays radiating from it.<ref name=maunder>{{cite journal
| last = Maunder
| first = A. S. D.
| date = 1934
| title = The origin of the symbols of the planets
| journal = The Observatory
| volume = 57
| pages = 238–247
| bibcode = 1934Obs....57..238M
}}</ref>

=== Sun with face ===
{{multiple image
 | width1 = 210
 | image1 = Amiens Lescalopier 30 10v detail2.jpg
 | caption1 = Sun (ten rays) and Moon with faces in a manuscript miniature illustrating the fourth day of creation (12 C.)<ref>{{Cite journal |journal=[[Journal of Swiss Archaeology and Art History]] |doi = 10.5169/seals-168847 |year = 1987 |last1 = Michon |first1 = Solange|title = Un moine enlumineur du XIIe siècle : Frère Rufillus de Weissenau |trans-title=Brother Rufillus de Weisenau: a monastic illuminator of the twelfth century |lang=fr}}</ref>
 | width2 = 195
 | image2 = Sun (Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Larbey).jpg
 | caption2 = Sun with a face and eight (alternating triangular and wavy) rays (fresco in [[Larbey]], France, dated {{circa|1610}})
 | footer = Rayed depictions of the Sun with a human face are a Western iconographic tradition which became current in the [[Early Modern period]].
}}

The iconographic tradition of depicting the Sun with rays and with a [[face|human face]] developed in [[Western art|Western tradition]] in the high medieval period and became widespread in the [[Renaissance]], harking back to the Sun god ([[Helios|Sol/Helios]]) wearing a [[radiate crown]] in classical antiquity.

=== Sunburst ===
{{main|Sunburst}}
The [[sunburst]] was the [[Royal badges of England|badge]] of king [[Edward III of England]], and has thus become the [[Heraldic badge|badge of office]] of [[Windsor Herald]].

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=== Modern pictogram ===
[[File:Weather-clear.svg|thumb|upright 0.5|Typical "clear weather" pictogram (triangular rays)]]
The modern pictogram representing the Sun as a circle with rays, often eight in number (indicated by either straight lines or triangles; Unicode [[Miscellaneous Symbols]] {{resize|150%|☀}} U+2600; {{resize|150%|☼}} U+263C) indicates "clear weather" in [[weather forecast]]s, originally in [[television]] forecasts in the 1970s.<ref>Daniel Engber, [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/magazine/who-made-that-weather-icon.html Who Made That Weather Icon?], ''New York Times'', 23 May 2013.</ref>
The Unicode 6.0 [[Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs]] (October 2010) block introduced another set of weather pictograms, including "white sun" without rays 1F323 {{resize|150%|🌣}}, as well as "sun with face" U+1F31E {{resize|150%|🌞︎︎}}.

Two pictograms resembling the Sun with rays are used to represent the settings of [[luminance]] in [[Electronic visual display|display devices]]. They have been encoded in Unicode since version{{nbs}}6.0 in the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs block under U+1505 as "low brightness symbol" ({{resize|150%|🔅}}) and U+1F506 as "high brightness symbol" ({{resize|150%|🔆}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1F300.pdf |title=Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs |publisher=Unicode Consortium |year=2023}}</ref>

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