Crescent ≠ Islam

When most of us look at a crescent on a flag, we generally think of one thing: is it waxing or waning? .... ok, not that. We generally think of something other than that: Islam. A great many nations use the crescent in their national flag. Algeria, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey are just a handful.


This is flag for the Republic of Turkey. Although a republic now, Turkey is still very heavily Islamic, with over 97% of its population considering itself Islamic. The same could be said of other countries using the crescent–Algeria (99% Muslim), Azerbaijan (99%), Tunisia (99%), Pakistan (97%), and so on.

So the Christians have the cross and the Muslims have the crescent, right?


Not exactly.

The history of the crescent predates Islam and even Christianity. The city of Byzantium, which later became Constantinople and then Istanbul, adopted the crescent flag before the birth of Christ. No one knows for sure why the flag was used. Some speculate that it was adopted after the Romans defeated the Goths on the first day of the lunar month. Others say it is in honor of the Greek goddess Diana. Whatever it is though, Constantinople used the crescent throughout its entire history, even after it became the most important Christian city in the world.

Islamic states however, did not have a unified symbol. Sometimes a simple red or green flag indicated a particular armies loyalty to an certain Islamic crown. In 1453, when Mehmed II defeated the Byzantine Empire and conquered Constantinople the Ottoman Turks adopted the crescent as there flag and symbol. Legend says that Osman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire saw the crescent as a good omen. So they kept it around. For the next 450 years, the Ottoman Empire dominated the Muslim world and spread the crescent from the Western Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea and beyond. After centuries of fighting between the Islamic Ottoman Empire and the Christian West, it is easy to see why the crescent is associated with Islam. In reality, it had little to do with Islam and everything to do with the Ottoman Empire.

In 1918, when the winners of World War I (Britain, France, and the USSR) carved up the Ottoman Empire (they sided with the losers), many of these now ex-Ottoman states continued to used the crescent as there national symbol. But many Islamic nations, such as Saudi Arabia–an Islamic absolute monarchy and not a secular republic, do not.

So there you have it.

The Crescent ≠ Islam

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Khufu's Pyramid

Image
Every morning I generally sit at my computer for an hour or so and look to read things. I try to find something that is new to me that is interesting instead of perusing some almost-stranger's photos of his or her trip to Folly's Beach. Much to my chagrin, the latter creeps up more than I care to remember. This past weekend I stumbled across some articles about the Pyramids of Giza–Khufu's Pyramid in particular. Fascinating stuff. There is something super mysterious about this structure from antiquity. It's mondo old and big. It's survived over 4500 years of wars, famine, natural disasters, and looting. It's well preserved–the only intact Wonder of the Ancient World, and in my opinion, the most recognizable building on earth. The most intriguing of all, it tells us a great deal about the intelligence and craftsmanship of its makers, the Egyptians. Ok, we all know about the Egyptians to some extent and that they all wear eyeliner and don snakes for hats. Hey, I a
Read more

St. Thomas Aquinas & Grace Perfecting Nature

Image
Today is the Feast Day of the St. Thomas Aquinas. If one's size reflected one's influence, St. Thomas is just about right. Known as the Angelic Doctor and the Universal Doctor, his importance to philosophy, theology and ethics reigns supreme. He's pretty awesome. And a super-smart brainiac. And mondo pious. He'd crush you if he sat on you. He'd crush your high hopes of dissent with his logic and make you feel silly. He was so saintly and humble, he was gifted a  glimpse of the Beatific Vision.  He was the most reasonable guy out there, and at the same time was a mystic. He believed in miracles, and when he saw them, he didn't think it was out of the ordinary. Why should it be? He was the intellectual genius that lived in elfland and believed that "a tree grows fruit because it is a magic tree" as another man of considerable intellect and girth once noted.  Although talking about his body of work would and does take many lifetimes, I'd like to
Read more

Battle of Vienna: Laying Siege

Image
This is my second of three/four installments on the Battle of Vienna. I haven't decided how many yet. There were some questions as to what a Grand Vizier actually is. I am sorry that Disney's Aladdin wasn't that helpful. The Grand Vizier was the top minister of the Sultan and could only be axed by the Sultan himself. He had absolute power of attorney and could call together all the other ministers in the land to deal with matters of state. So... the sultan is numero-uno, and the Grand Vizier is his right-hand man. Sieging the City The Ottoman Turks were not fighting alone. The Khanate of Crimea, Moldovia, Transylvania and Wallachia aided the Ottomans, bringing the total force to 150,000 troops and 300 canons. Leopold and 80,000 civilians high-tailed it out of city as the Ottomans advanced closer to Vienna. The Emperor entrusted 11,000 soldiers, about 5,000 volunteers and 300+ cannons to Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg. The task of defending the city would be a difficult one.
Read more