Talk:Star and crescent
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents |
[edit] Significance of star in front of moon
This has been bugging me for a while--I remember reading somewhere that the star and crescent had to do with Allah's ability to put stars in front of the moon, something only a God could do. Does this have anything to do with the star and crescent? Citizen Premier 05:56, 19 October 2005 (UTC)
- I seriously doubt it -- though it is true that the star in the Islamic symbol is often placed in a position where it would be behind the moon (and so unobservable) in reality. But the Islamic crescent is generally significantly different in shape from the actual astronomical shape of the moon's crescent anyway, as you can read at article Crescent. AnonMoos 10:35, 20 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Controversial symbol?
I read somewhere that the star and crescent is a controvercial symbol for some Muslims because it originated in the pre-Islamic Shamanist beliefs of the Turks. Is this true? What is the symbol's status in Arab countries, which do not really use the star and crescent in their flags?
- Copying from Talk:Crescent:
- All those who are interested in the matter can rather easily find out that the crescent was not used as a symbol of Islam during Muhammad's lifetime, and some back-to-the-origins or Salafi type Muslims dislike it for that reason (so the Taliban flag and the Saudi Arabian flag include Arabic lettering, in accordance with the practices of early Islam, and avoid crescents), but this hasn't prevented a red crescent from showing up on the OIC flag, and the Red Crescent is still the Muslim version of the Red Cross in all Muslim-majority countries... AnonMoos 15:08, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Impossible legend
- "When the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, they adopted the city's existing flag and symbol. Legend holds that the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman had a vision of a crescent moon which he adopted as the Ottoman Empire's symbol when Constantinople fell."
The above sentence cannot be accurate since Osman lived and died well before Constantinople fell.
- I have removed the offending sentence, which was unsourced anyway. --LambiamTalk 02:06, 9 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Zelda?
The Mirror Shield in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time had this symbol on it, but then it was removed. But maybe that's not worth mentioning in this article?--Phred Levi 15:38, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
- I think it is. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.72.21.221 (talk) 01:16, 19 March 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Merge "Flags similar to the flag of Turkey" to "star and crescent"
- The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.
The result of the proposal was article deleted
It has been suggested that Flags similar to the flag of Turkey be merged with the entry for star and crescent.
[edit] Survey
- Agree The entry should be merged to either flag of Turkey, in the manner of other entries for national flags, or to star and crescent. In any case, there are no grounds for creating an entry for what is, after all, mostly a coincidence, i.e. similarity in design. -The Gnome 07:53, 14 November 2007 (UTC)
- Oppose Those r two distinct and unrelated things, and must remain separate! Oren neu dag (talk) 10:35, 21 November 2007 (UTC)
- The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.
[edit] Origin of star and crescent: Islam or Turkey?
In the article it is claimed that "[the star and cresecent] are traditional symbols of Turkish (Turkic) identity". However, a distinction should be made between Ottomans and Turks, especially with modern Turkey. The entry already includes a link to an Answers.com article which states that "The city of Byzantium (later known as Constantinople and Istanbul) adopted the crescent moon as its symbol ... When the Turks conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, they adopted the city's existing flag and symbol ... the Ottoman Empire ruled over the Muslim world. After centuries of battle with Christian Europe, it is understandable how the symbols of this empire became linked in people's minds with the faith of Islam as a whole." In the entry for star and crescent it is further claimed that "Many Muslim nations, such as Pakistan, and non-sovereign nations such as Turkestan and Tatarstan use it on their national flag, inspiring from the secular Republic of Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire". However, this is false -- and it is why the Wiki entry titled "Flags inspired by the flag of Turkey" was initially re-titled (to "Flags similar to...") and then completely deleted. I propose that the text of the entry for star and crescent is amended to reflect only the established facts. The rest is original research. -The Gnome (talk) 07:38, 27 November 2007 (UTC)
