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

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