Five-pointed star

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A five-pointed star.

A five-pointed star (☆) is a very common ideogram throughout the world. If the colinear edges are joined together a pentagram is produced, which is the simplest of the unicursal star polygons, and a symbol of mystical and magical significance.

The five-pointed star has become a symbol of fame or "stardom", and the golden five-pointed star has particularly strong associations with military power and war.

Comparison with a pentagram

  • A simple five-pointed star
    A simple five-pointed star
  • A pentagram has strokes through the center.
    A pentagram has strokes through the center.
  • A pentacle is a pentagram (inverted in this image) with a circle around it.
    A pentacle is a pentagram (inverted in this image) with a circle around it.

Flags

Further information: Star (heraldry)

Five-pointed stars are found on many flags, generally in solid form, although some, such as the flag of New Zealand, have a different-coloured outline. The pentagram appears on only two national flags, those of Ethiopia and Morocco.

Five-pointed stars appear on the flag and in the heraldic symbolism of the United States. In the U.S. context, the stars allegedly symbolize the heavens. They stand in contrast to the vexillologically rarer seven-pointed stars, such as those used in the flag of Australia.

Stardom

The five-pointed star is known as a symbol of fame or "stardom". The word "star" is often used as a synonym for "celebrity",[1] and in show business a five-pointed star may be affixed to a principal performer's dressing room door to indicate they are of preeminent importance or notoriety.[2] Another example is the Hollywood Walk of Fame where famous entertainers are honored with pink terrazzo five-pointed stars along Hollywood Boulevard to commemorate their achievements within the entertainment industry.[3]

Socialism and communism

The Red Star is a five-pointed star, coloured solidly in red, which featured ubiquitously in the former Soviet Union. It is used to symbolize socialism and in particular communism.

The Druze

The Druze, descendents of exiles from Fatimid Dynasty-ruled Egypt, have as their symbol a five-pointed star with each color pertains to a symbol defining its principles: green for Aql "the Universal Mind/Nous", red for Nafs "the Universal Soul/Anima mundi", yellow for Kalima "the Word/Logos", blue for Sabq "the Potentiality/Cause/Precedent", and white for Talī "the Actuality/Effect/Immanence".They live mainly in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

Ottomans

The five-pointed star is part of the symbol of the Ottoman Empire.

Bahá'í Faith

An unidentified tablet in the Báb's handwriting.
Main article: Bahá'í symbols

In the Bahá'í Faith a five-pointed star referred to as a haykal (Arabic: "temple") represents the (body of the) Manifestation of God, as described in the Súriy-i-Haykal.

"Strictly speaking the 5-pointed star is the symbol of our Faith, as used by the Báb and explained by Him."
(on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Directives from the Guardian, p. 52)

Other uses

Five pointed stars are also used on various elevators to indicate the ground level or lobby of a building. Five pointed stars are also used on various police, fire, and paramedic badges. In sports especially in football association the star together with the badge in the uniforms represents the championships that the team wins for example the badges of the France, Spain, England national shirt badge appears one five pointed star represents one FIFA World Cup championship.

Brigate Rosse

The symbol of the Italian Marxist-Leninist terrorist group Brigate Rosse is a slightly modified five-pointed star.

Order of the Eastern Star

The Order of the Eastern Star, a fraternal organization associated with Freemasonry, employs a downward-pointing star as its symbol, with the five points colored blue, yellow, white, green, and red. This emblem sometimes appears in the form of a pentagram.

Kappa Sigma

The Star and Crescent are the official symbols of Kappa Sigma comprising the fraternity badge.

Esperanto

A green five-pointed star is a symbol of Esperanto.

Ravinia

A 5 pointed pentagram is used to represent the society of Ravinia, a society where only the elite survive while the rest are marginalized, in The Pendragon Adventure book series by D. J. MacHale. It is mainly seen in the 9th and 10th book of the series, but is seen in the others as the mark on the flumes.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Synonyms For "Celebrity"". Thesaurus.com. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  2. ^ "The "Star" Dressing Room". MovieStaff.com. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  3. ^ "Hollywood Walk of Fame". WalkOfFame.com. Retrieved 13 July 2011.

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