As the people in ancient times lived without electric lights, they were much more familiar with the night sky than us, and stars and planets were a very important part of their living. Most believed that events in the sky were closely linked to events on earth, a belief that developed into astrology.
Mesopotamia and Egypt. Crescents appearing together with a star or stars were a common feature of Sumerian iconography, the crescent being associated with the moon god Sin (Nanna) and the star with Ishtar (Inanna) often placed alongside the sun disk of Shamash.
A star and crescent symbol with the star shown in a sixteen-rayed ''sunburst'' design (3rd century BC)
Sealing depicting the Neo Sumerian king Ibbi-Sin (reigned 2028-2004 BC) seated with a star and crescent adjacent to him.
The Egyptian hieroglyphs (3200 BC), representing ''moon'' and ''star'' appear in ligature, forming a star-and-crescent shape, as determined for the word for ''month''.
The Nebra Sky Disc dated to 1600 BC, is one of the earliest representations of a crescent and stars. It was found in Germany in 1999.
The Nebra sky disk is a bronze disk of around 30 cm weighing 2.2 kilograms, having a blue-green patina and inlaid with gold symbols. These symbols are interpreted as the sun or full moon, a lunar crescent and stars. The disk has been attributed to a site in Germany near Nebra, dated to 1600 BC. This was discovered in 1999 by treasure hunters.
A combination of the crescent of Sin with the five-pointed star of Ishtar placed inside the crescent placed amongst numerous other symbols (later Hellenistic era symbol), is found in a boundary stone of Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon (1125-1104 BC). This was discovered in Nippur (an ancient Sumerian city) by John Henry Haynes in 1896. The symbols were associated with the deities Sin (moon) and Ishtar (Venus).
Boundary stone of Nebuchadnezzar I (1125-1104 BC)
The eight-pointed star alongside the crescent moon and solar disk is also inscribed on the boundary stone of Meli-Shipak II, dating to 1186-1172 BC, when he was the 33rd king of the Kassite or 3rd dynasty of Babylon.
Depiction of the emblems of Ishtar (Venus), Sin (moon), and Shamash (Sun) on a boundary stone of Mei-Shipak II.
Hellenistic Era. At least four different Greco-Roman goddesses had a lunar connection. Hecate, Selene, Artemis (Diana) and Aphrodite (Venus). The Athens Owl coin has Crescent moon symbol behind the shoulder of the owl. This was a popular trade coin accepted for centuries across the Mediterranean world (490-480 BC).
Owl Type A full-crest tetradrachm, Athens, 454-431 BC, weight 17.0 g
Obverse: Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet adorned with olive leaves and palmette
Reverse: Owl standing right, behind olive spray and crescent moon
Tarentum, a prosperous Greek city issued a tiny silver trihemiobol (450-380 BC), showing a distaff (a tool used in spinning thread) between two stars and a crescent.
Tarentum Trihemiobol, silver 0.7 g, 430-380 BC,
Obverse: Diphros or table with four legs, with two pellets
Reverse: Distaff between two eight-pointed stars, crescent to left
The small town of Uranopolis in Macedon was dedicated to the sky Goddess Aprhrodite Urania. On its bronze coins (300 BC), the goddess appears on a celestial globe. The star and crescent are depicted on the reverse, a pattern to be repeated on coins for centuries.
Macedon, Uranopolis, 300 BC, weight 1.4 g,
Obverse: eight pointed star and crescent
Reverse: Aphrodite Urania seated left on globe
The Greek city of Byzantium (which would become Constantinople in 330 AD) adopted this symbol on its coinage in the 1st century BC. According to legend, in 330 BC, when Philip of Macedon (father of Alexander the Great) besieged Byzantium, the appearance of a sudden light in the sky warned the defenders in time to prevent a surprise night attack on the walls. In gratitude to the lunar goddess Hecate, the city placed a star and crescent on its local coinage. The custom continued into the Roman era.
Thrace, Byzantium, Trajan, 98-117 BC, weight 6.3 g
Obverse: Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust left, seen from behind
Reverse: Star and crescent
Adoration of the Magi by Stefan Lochner. Byzantine attendees on the left side represented by a star and crescent moon flag.
Roman Republic. The combination of an obverse image of Sol, the sun god with a star and crescent reverse appears on a silver denarius issued by L Lucretius Trio. On this coin, seven stars accompany the crescent. The most visible cluster of seven stars is the Pleiades, important to ancient people as its appearance above the horizon marked spring planting and Autumn harvest season.
Roman Republic, L Lucretius Trio, Denarius,74 BC, weight 3.8 g
Obverse: Radiate head of Sol right
Reverse: Seven stars around crescent with small pellet
Roman Imperial. The first emperor Augustus, repeatedly minted coins with the crescent symbol with one or more stars on his coinage.
Denarius, Augustus, 19 - 4 BC, weight 3.6 g
Obverse: Head of Augustus, right
Reverse: Six-rayed star above crescent
A denarius of Hadrian 127 AD shows the star and crescent.
Hadrian Denarius, 124-128 AD, ''COS III Star in crescent, Globe, weight 3.5 g
Obverse: Hadrian facing right
Reverse: COS III Star within crescent, globe below
Mithradates VI Eupator of the Kingdom of Pontus (120-63 BC) used an eight rayed star with a crescent moon as his emblem. The star and crescent appear on coins from the time of Mithradates III and seem to have been dynastic badges of the family.
Mithridates VI
Mithradates VI,Tetradrachm, 74 BC,
Obverse: Diademed head right
Reversë: Stag grazing left, star and crescent and year to left, two monograms to right, all within Dionysiac wreath of ivy and fruit.
Mithradates VI,Tetradrachm, 95 BC,
Obverse: Diademed head right
Reversë: Stag grazing left, star and crescent and year to left, two monograms to right, all within Dionysiac wreath of ivy and fruit.
Greek and Roman Iconography. The moon goddess Selene is commonly depicted with a crescent moon, often accompanied by two stars (the stars represent Phosphoros, the morning star and Hesperus, the evening star)
The moon goddess Selene or Luna accompanied by the Dioscuri or Phosphoruos (the morning star and Hesperus, the evening star). Marble altar, Roman artwork, 2nd century AD, from Italy
Persia. The symbol next emerges in the Parthian Empire, beginning with the coins of Phraates V (2 BC- 4 AD). Here the star represented either the Zoroastrian divinity Mithira or the divinity Tishtrya. The crescent corresponds with the goddess Anahita. The star and crescent became an emblem of the Parthian kings and was adopted by the rulers of the Sassanian Empire as a sign of legitimacy. In the Sassanian period the star and crescent is shown with explicitly Zoroastrian elements. Coins display a portrait of the king surrounded by the symbol. On the reverse there is a depiction of a fire altar with attendants.
Kings of Parthia, Phraates IV, 7 - 2 BC, Drachm, weight 3.9 g
Obverse: Diademed bust left, star in crescent, behind eagle left holding wreath
Reverse: Archer seated right on throne, holding bow, monogram below bow
The star and crescent motif appear on the margin of Sassanid coins in the 5th century. Their rulers appear to have used crowns featuring a crescent, sphere and crescent, or star and crescent.
Sasanian King, Boran, 630-631 AD, Drachm, weight 4.0 g
Obverse: Bust of queen right, elaborate crown with two wings and korymbos set on crescent and ribbon on her right
Reverse: Fire altar with ribbons flanked by two attendants, star and crescent flanking flames, to left date to right mint name in Pahlaw, within triple border, star and crescent in margin
When Muslim Arabs conquered Persia in the 7th century, Sassanian coin designs were only preserved. The fire and altar on the reverse would be replaced with Arabic around 685-705 AD, by Abd al-Malik, but the star and crescent remained. The symbol later appears in Muslim art.
During the Medieval and early modern age, the crescent and star is found on the Crusader seals and coins of the County of Tripoli minted under Raymond II or III from 1140s-1160s, with an ''eight-rayed star with pellets above the crescent.
County of Tripoli (Crusader and Christian states in the Eastern Mediterranean), Raymond II-III, 1137-1187 AD, Denier, billon, weight 15.8 g
The star and crescent in the Islamic context are rare in the medieval period but may occasionally be found in depiction of flags from the 14th century onwards. Some Mughal era (17th century) round shields were decorated with a crescent and star.
Depiction of a star and crescent flag on the Saracen side in the Battle of Yarmouk, early 14th century
Miniature painting from Padshahnama mauscript 1640 AD depicting Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as bearing a shield with a star and crescent decoration.
Ottoman Empire. The adoption of star and crescent as the Ottoman state symbol started during the reign of Mustafa III (1757-1774) and its use became well established during Abdul Hamid's (1774-1789) period. It is derived from the star and crescent symbol used by the city of Constantinople in antiquity.
Ottoman sipahis in battle, holding the crescent banner (by Jozef Brandt)
In addition, the symbols appeared on the flag of Bosnia Eyalet (1580-1867) and Bosnia Vilayet (1867-1908). In the late 19th century, "Star and Crescent'' came to be used as a metaphor for Ottoman rule.
After the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the new Turkish state maintained the last flag of the Ottoman Empire. Other Ottoman successor states using the symbol in their flag are Egypt (1922 onwards), Tunisia (1831), Libya (1951) and Algeria (1958). Those that introduced during the 20th century include Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Arab Democratic Republic and Northern Cyprus. Singapore, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Comoros, Cocos Island etc.
By the mid-20th century, the symbol came to be re-interpreted as the symbol of Islam.
