Star (heraldry)

1545 depiction of the flag of the city of Maastricht (gules, a six-pointed mullet, argent)

In heraldry, the term star may refer to any star-shaped charge with any number of rays, which may appear straight or wavy, and may or may not be pierced. While there has been much confusion between the two due to their similar shape, a star with straight-sided rays is usually called a mullet while one with wavy rays is usually called an estoile.^[1]

While a mullet may have any number of points, it is presumed to have five unless otherwise specified in the blazon, and pierced mullets are common; estoiles, however, are presumed to have six rays and (as of 1909) had not been found pierced.^[1] In Scottish heraldry, an estoile is the same as in English heraldry, but it has been said that mullet refers only to a mullet pierced (also called a spur revel), while one that is not pierced is called a star.^[1]

Terminology

The use of the word star in blazons, and how that charge appears in coat armory, varies from one jurisdiction to another. In Scots heraldry, both star and mullet interchangeably mean a star with five straight rays; the official record from 1673 gives Murray of Ochtertyre azur three Starrs argent ... (Public Register, vol 1 p 188), while the Ordinary of Arms produced by a late 19th century Lyon King of Arms 'modernizes' the original as Az. three mullets arg. .... In Canadian heraldry the usual term is mullet, but there is also the occasional six-pointed star (e.g. in Vol. IV, at p. 274 and in online version of the Canadian Public Register), which is what others would blazon as a six-pointed mullet. The United States Army Institute of Heraldry, the official heraldic authority in the United States, uses the term mullet in its blazons,^[2] but elsewhere, as in US government documents describing the flag of the United States and the Great Seal of the United States, the term star is constantly used, and these nearly always appear with five straight-sided points.

The term mullet or molet refers to a star with straight sides, typically having five or six points, but may have any number of points specified in the blazon. If the number of points is not specified, five points are presumed in Gallo-British heraldry, and six points are presumed in German-Nordic heraldry. Unlike estoiles, mullets have straight (rather than wavy) rays and may have originally represented the rowel of a spur, rather than a celestial star.^[3] The term is said to be derived from French molette, a spur-rowel,^[3] although it was in use in heraldry even before rowel spurs.^[4]

The term estoile refers to wavy-sided stars, usually of six points, though they may also be blazoned with a different number of points, often eight (e.g. "Portsmouth County Council" pictured here), and many variants feature alternating straight and wavy rays (e.g. "Honford" pictured here). The term derives from Old French estoile 'star', in reference to a celestial star (cf. Modern French étoile), from Latin stella 'star'.

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  Mullet (English type)

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  Star (German type)

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  Mullet of six points pierced

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  Mullet of eight points

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  Estoile

Classical heraldry

Arms of the counts of Waldeck (14th century)

The Washington coat of arms at Selby Abbey (mid 15th century)

Stars are comparatively rare in European heraldry during the medieval period. An early reference of dubious historicity is reported by Johannes Letzner, who cites Conradus Fontanus (an otherwise unknown authority) to the effect that one Curt von Meinbrechtshausen, a knight of Saxony, in 1169 after committing a murder lost his rank and arms, described as an eight-pointed star beneath a chevron. Examples of stars in a late medieval heraldry of the Holy Roman Empire include those of Wentz von Niederlanstein (1350), Gemm (attested 1352), Geyer von Osterberg (1370), Enolff Ritter von Leyen (d. 1392).^[5]

Under the system of cadency in use in England and Ireland since the late 15th century, a third son bears a mullet (unpierced) as a difference.^[6]

Stars become much more popular as heraldic charges in the early modern era, especially in then-recent family coats of arms of burghers and patricians, as well as in coats of arms of cities (e.g. Maastricht, Bozen, Kaufbeuren).^[7] The coat of arms of Valais originates in 1613, when six stars representing its six districts were added to the party per pale coat of arms of the Bishop of Sion. Of the higher nobility in Siebmachers Wappenbuch (1605), the landgrave of Hessen and the counts of Waldeck and Erbach have stars in their coats of arms, as do several Swiss knights.^[8]

United States

The American flag as described in the Flag Resolution passed by the Second Continental Congress on 14 June 1777.

Stars are nearly ubiquitous in United States heraldry and vexillology and nearly always appear unpierced with five straight-sided points. In the flag of the United States, each star represents one state.^[9] The flag adopted in 1777 is the attributed origin of the thirteen stars, representing the thirteen United States, appearing on the Great Seal since 1780.^[10]

A mullet "barbed to chief" appears in the arms of the 240th Signal Battalion of the United States Army.^[11]

Modern flags

In the design of modern flags, stars (mullets, usually five-pointed) when standing alone often represent concepts like "unity" or "independence", in the case of the communist star of the flag of the Soviet Union and other communist states the unity of the Communist Party.^{[citation needed]} When arranged in groups, they often enumerate provinces or other components of the nation (such as ethnic groups). In the flags of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, this enumeration is done by the points of a single star rather than by a number of stars.^{[citation needed]} Some flags of countries on the southern hemisphere show a depiction of the Southern Cross consisting of four or five stars. The star and crescent symbol is found in flags of states succeeding the Ottoman Empire, which used flags with this symbol during 1793-1923.

The 50 stars of the US flag is the largest number on any national flag.^{[citation needed]} The second-largest number of stars on a current national flag is 27, on the flag of Brazil.^{[citation needed]} The twelve stars on the Flag of Europe (1955) represent the figure twelve as "the symbol of completeness and perfection".^{[citation needed]} While the flag of Europe has twelve stars, no member country of the European Union has a star in its flag.

The current national flags featuring stars include are:

flag	date	# of stars	points	stars represent	description/comment
United States	1777; 1960	50	5	enumerate US states	originally 13 stars, 50 stars since 1960, see Timeline of the flag of the United States
Chile	1817	1	5	ideal	"The star represents a guide to progress and honor"
Tunisia	1831; 1956	1	5	star and crescent	based on the Ottoman flag
Turkey	1844; 1936	1	5	star and crescent	the Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 and its Flag Law was passed in 1936, declaring the continued use of the Ottoman flag that had been flown since 1844 (an earlier variant with an eight-pointed star dates to ca. 1793).
Venezuela	1859; 1930	8	5	enumerate provinces	various arrangement of the stars in design changes since 1859. Twenty stars during 1859–1863.
Honduras	1866	5	5	enumerate provinces	based on the flag of the Federal Republic of Central America. The five stars also represent the historical provinces of that state, not subdivisions of Honduras itself.
New Zealand	1869; 1902	4	5	Southern Cross	used as a naval ensign since 1869, made the official national flag in 1902. Based on the Australasian Anti-Transportation League Flag of 1859.
Brazil	1889; 1992	27	5	enumerate States of Brazil	originally 21 stars, 27 stars since 1992, see Flag of Brazil
Philippines	1898	3	5	enumerate island groups	the three stars represent the three major geographical island groups that compose the Philippines: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Australia	1901	6	7; 5	Southern Cross; Commonwealth Star	seven-pointed stars for the Commonwealth Star and the main stars of the constellation, plus a smaller five-pointed star representing Epsilon Crucis. Based on the Australasian Anti-Transportation League Flag of 1859.
Cuba	1902	1	5	ideal	"The white star in the triangle stands for independence". Based on the flag carried by Narciso López in 1850.
Azerbaijan	1918	1	8	star and crescent	"the eight-pointed star points to the eight letters of the name Azerbaijan (in Arabic script)"[12]
Panama	1925	2	5	ideal	"the blue star stands for the purity and honesty of the life of the country; the red star represents the authority and law in the country"
Jordan	1928	1	7	ideal	"The seven points symbolize the seven verses of the first surah of the Qur’an. The seven points also represent faith in one God, humanity, humility, national spirit, virtue, social justice, and aspiration. The star also stands for the unity of the Arab nation."
Vietnam	1945	1	5	ideal	the Communist Star; "The five-pointed yellow star represents the unity of workers, peasants, intellectuals, traders and soldiers in building socialism"
Pakistan	1947	1	5	ideal	the star represents "light": Unlike the other flags with the star and crescent symbol, the flag of Pakistan is not directly or explicitly based on the Ottoman flag; instead "the crescent and star symbolize progress and light respectively".
North Korea	1948	1	5	ideal	the Communist Star
People's Republic of China	1949	5	5	ideal	"Five Stars on a Field of Red" (紅地五星旗, Hóng dì wǔxīng qí), one large star representing the Communist Party surrounded by four smaller ones depicting the four social classes
Samoa	1949	5	5	Southern Cross
Somalia	1954	1	5	ideal	"Star of Unity"
Ghana	1957	1	5	ideal	"the lodestar of African freedom"
Central African Republic	1958	1	5	?
Syrian Republic	1958; 1980	4	5	enumerate states	The 1958 flag was that of the United Arab Republic. The two stars originally represented Syria and Egypt as member states of that entity.
Mauritania	1959	1	5	star and crescent
Senegal	1960	1	5	?
Togo	1960	1	5	?
Algeria	1962	1	5	star and crescent
Malaysia	1963	1	14	enumerate states	a 14-pointed star alongside a crescent, representing the 13 member states plus the federal government
Singapore	1965	5	5	ideal	five stars alongside a crescent, representing "democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality". According to Lee Kuan Yew, the Chinese population wanted five stars (based on the flag of the People's Republic of China) and the Muslim population wanted a crescent moon.
Burundi	1967	3	6	ideal	"Unity, Work, Progress"
Nauru	1967	1	12	enumerate tribes
Papua New Guinea	1971	5	5	Southern Cross
Guinea-Bissau	1973	1	5	ideal	"the Black Star of Africa"
Grenada	1974	7	5	enumerate parishes
Angola	1975	1	5	ideal	in origin imitating the Communist Star
Cameroon	1975	1	5	ideal	"star of unity"
Suriname	1975	1	5	ideal	"The star represents the unity of all ethnic groups"
São Tomé and Príncipe	1975	2	5	enumerate islands
Tuvalu	1976	9	5	enumerate islands	The stars are arranged in imitation of the geographic location of the islands of Tuvalu
Djibouti	1977	1	5	ideal	"The red star signifies the unity of the diverse state."
Solomon Islands	1977	5	5	enumerate islands
Dominica	1978	10	5	enumerate parishes
Marshall Islands	1979	1	24	enumerate districts	the points of the stars enumerate the electoral districts
Federated States of Micronesia	1979	4	5	enumerate islands
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1983	2	5	ideal / enumerate islands	"hope and liberty, or Saint Kitts and Nevis"
Burkina Faso	1984	1	5	ideal	"the guiding light of the revolution"
Uzbekistan	1991	12	5	ideal	a crescent and twelve stars, representing the "ancient calendar cycle"
Tajikistan	1992	7	5	?
Cape Verde	1992	10	5	enumerate islands
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1998	8 ("∞")	5	ideal	a diagonal line of seven five-pointed stars, plus two half-stars cut off by the flag boundary. The stars represent "Europe" and are intended to be "infinite" in number.
Comoros	2001	4	5	?	four stars alongside a crescent
Turkmenistan	2001	5	5	enumerate provinces	five stars alongside a crescent
East Timor	2002	1	5	ideal	"the light that guides"
South Sudan	2005	1	5	ideal	"the Star of Bethlehem, represents the unity of the states of South Sudan"
Democratic Republic of the Congo	2007	1	5	ideal	derived from the flag of Congo Free State (1885)
Burma	2010	1	5	ideal	"unity"

Not bearing heraldic stars as such, the 1915 Flag of Morocco and the 1996 flag of Ethiopia have a pentagram each, and the 1948 flag of Israel a hexagram or "star of David". The 1962 Flag of Nepal has what would technically be described as a 12-pointed mullet, but is intended to depict the Sun.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags with stars.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stars in heraldry.

• "star" at flagspot.net