Five-pointed star
A five-pointed star (☆), geometrically an equilateral concave decagon, is a common ideogram in modern culture. Comparatively rare in classical
It has also become a symbol of fame or "stardom" in Western culture, among other uses.
History of use
Early history
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The star (or
The star in the coat of arms of the
Modern flags and emblems
The five-pointed stars on the
Five-pointed stars became more frequently used in the 19th century. The
The five-pointed star also came to be widely used in military badges in the 19th century. A red star was used as the badge of XII Corps of the Union Army in the American Civil War, while VII Corps used a five-pointed star in a crescent. In 1916, a five-pointed red star was used by the
The U.S. tradition of barnstars, decorative five-pointed stars attached to buildings, appears to have arisen in Pennsylvania after the Civil War, and became widespread by the 1930s.[8]
The Swiss
The green five-pointed star used as a symbol of Esperanto was first proposed in 1890.
The five-pointed
In the
The Flag of Europe, designed in 1955 on behalf of the Council of Europe (CoE) and adopted by the European Communities in 1985 (and thus inherited as the flag of the European Union upon its creation in 1993) has a circle of twelve yellow (gold) stars on a blue (azure) field.[9]
Other uses in modern culture
The use of "star" for theatrical lead performers dates to 1824, giving rise to the concept of "stardom" in the film industry. The Hollywood Walk of Fame, where famous entertainers are honored with pink terrazzo five-pointed stars along Hollywood Boulevard, was introduced in 1958.[10]
In
Five-pointed stars may be used on elevators to indicate the ground level or lobby of a building.
They are also used on various police, fire, and paramedic badges.
Relation to the pentagram
As a symbol or emblem, the five-pointed star, or mullet of five points, arises from classical heraldry, and it shares none of the esoteric or occult associations given to the pentagram, or "Seal of Solomon", since at least the Renaissance period.
The two emblems are frequently associated, or identified, in contemporary
List of national flags
Americas
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Brazil
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Chile
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Cuba
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Dominica
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Grenada
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Honduras
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Panama
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Saint Kitts and Nevis
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Suriname
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United States
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Venezuela
Africa
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Algeria
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Angola
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Burkina Faso
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Cameroon
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Cape Verde
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Central African Republic
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Comoros
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Djibouti
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DR Congo
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Ethiopia
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Ghana
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Guinea-Bissau
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Liberia
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Libya
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Mauritania
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Morocco
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Mozambique
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Sao Tome and Principe
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Senegal
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Somalia
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South Sudan
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Togo
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Tunisia
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Zimbabwe
Asia
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China
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Myanmar
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North Korea
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Pakistan
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Philippines
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Singapore
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Syria
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Tajikistan
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Timor-Leste
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Turkmenistan
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Uzbekistan
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Vietnam
Australia and Oceania
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Australia
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Federated States of Micronesia
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New Zealand
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Papua New Guinea
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Samoa
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Solomon Islands
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Tuvalu
Europe
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Bosnia & Herzegovina
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Turkey
See also
- Arabic star
- List of symbols
- Nautical star
- Pentagram
- Red star, the international symbolism of socialism. Also used by United States pioneering military aircraft in early 1916
- Star (glyph)
- Star (heraldry)
- Star polygon
- Star polygons in art and culture
- Starfish
- Starfruit
- The Five Star Stories
- United States military aircraft national insignia, which have mostly used five-pointed stars since 1916
Unicode
Unicode provides various Five-pointed Star Symbol:[14]
Symbol | Name | Code point |
---|---|---|
٭ | Arabic five-pointed star[a] | U+066D |
🌟 | Glowing Star | U+1F31F |
🌠 | Shooting Star | U+1F320 |
⁎ | Low asterisk | U+204E |
≛ | Star Equals | U+225B |
⋆ | Star Operator | U+22C6 |
⍟ | APL functional Symbol Circle Star | U+235F |
⍣ | APL functional Symbol Star diaeresis | U+2363 |
★ | Black Star | U+2605 |
☆ | White Star | U+2606 |
☪ | star and crescent | U+262A |
⚝ | outlined white star | U+269D |
⛤ | Pentagram | U+26E4 |
⛥ | Right-Handed Interlaced Pentagram | U+26E5 |
⛦ | Left-Handed Interlaced Pentagram | U+26E6 |
⛧ | Inverted Pentagram | U+26E7 |
✩ | Stress Outlined White Star | U+2729 |
✪ | Circled White Star | U+272A |
✫ | Open Center Black Star | U+272B |
✬ | Black Center White Star | U+272C |
✭ | Outlined Black Star | U+272D |
✮ | Heavy Outlined Black Star | U+272E |
✯ | Pinwheel Star | U+272F |
✰ | Shadowed White Star | U+2730 |
⭐ | White Medium Star | U+2B50 |
⭑ | Black Small Star | U+2B51 |
⭒ | White Small Star | U+2B52 |
* | Full Width Asterisk | U+FF0A |
References
- ^ Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, A Complete Guide to Heraldry (1909), p. 296.
- ^ Brooke, Richard, "The Field of the Battle of Barnet" in Visits to Fields of Battle, in England, of the Fifteenth Century: To which are Added Some Miscellaneous Tracts and Papers Upon Archaeological Subjects (1857), p. 209.
- Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 11.
- ^ Williams Jr., Earl P. (October 2012). "Did Francis Hopkinson Design Two Flags?" (PDF). NAVA News (216): 7–9. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
- ^ Lane, Megan (14 November 2011). "Five hidden messages in the American flag". BBC News. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
- ^ Cooper, Grace Rogers (1973). Thirteen-Star Flags. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
- ^ "Historic Wings - Flight Stories - Chasing Pancho Villa". fly.historicwings.com. HW. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
Just one day after arriving, on March 16, 1916, the first reconnaissance flight was flown by Capt. Dodd with Capt. Foulois (as an observer) on the Curtiss JN-3 S.C. No. 43. As with all of the Army's aircraft in that era, the plane carried simple markings – a red star on the tail and the large number 43 painted on the sides of the fuselage.
- ^ "Barn Stars in Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania". www.thebarnjournal.org.
- ^ The EU inherited the flag's use when it was formed in 1993, being the successor organisation to the EC. It has been in wide official use by the EU since the 1990s, but it has never been given official status in any of the EU's treaties. Its adoption as an official symbol of the EU was planned as part of the proposed European Constitution, which failed to be ratified in 2005. Official Journal of the European Union, 2007 C 306–2, p. 267
- ^ "Hollywood Walk of Fame". WalkOfFame.com. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 7 February 2008. Archived from the originalon 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^ "Why Bayern Munich have only four stars on their shirt". talkSPORT. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- ^ e.g. Flavio Barbiero, The Secret Society of Moses: The Mosaic Bloodline and a Conspiracy Spanning Three Millennia (2010), p. 345.
- ^ "Star symbol".