Star and Crescent

The star and crescent is the best-known attribute used to represent Islam. It appears on the flags of many countries in the Islamic world, like Turkey and Pakistan.

Surprisingly, this symbol is not Muslim in origin. Rather, it was a polytheistic icon adopted during the spread of Islam, and its use today is sometimes contraversal in the Muslim world. The crescent and star are generally said to be Islamic symbols, but historians say that they were the insignia of the Ottoman Empire, not of Islam as a whole.

It is important to know that Islam has few traditional symbols, and the crescent moon and star are not ones that are recognized as traditional symbols by Muslims. The symbol is due to cultural circulation and spread of Islam to the Ottoman turks who ruled a big area and aswell put the crescent moon and star attribute on their flag. It has since then become associated with Islam.