May 2nd, 2017

Along with the Christian Cross and the Jewish Star of David, the Star and Crescent is the iconic symbol of Islam. It adorns the face of 12 national flags (sometimes slightly modified), all of which belong to predominantly Muslim countries. Of the three religious symbols, the Cross and Star of David have been used since antiquity, while the Star and Crescent was only recently associated with Islam. The Star and Crescent dates back millenniums, possibly even to Ancient Egypt. Over the centuries it has been reappropriated numerous times, eventually forming the flag of the Ottoman Empire in 1793. After the devolution of the Ottoman Empire, many of the successor states kept the iconography, most notably Turkey, whose flag is nearly identical. As many of these new nations practiced Islam, the association began to solidify. Libya bolstered this by pointing out that the moon could represent the Islamic lunar calendar, and that the moon and star pair is reminiscent of the Hegira (Mohammed's journey from Mecca to Medina). By the late 20th century the symbol and the faith had become synonymous, much to the chagrin of many Islamic scholars. If you choose to side with said scholars, the next best choice for a distinctly Islamic symbol is probably the stylized name of Allah: اَللّهٌ, as can be found on the flags of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

-E