Nautical star
The nautical star is a star-shaped symbol that can be found in modern nautical charts and is part of the Unicode character set. It is depicted as a five-pointed star with dark and light shades that create a three-dimensional effect.
The first use of the nautical star is unclear. In terms of content, it is associated with the guiding star of sailors, the Pole Star . This is close to the azimuth in the sky and has been used by seafarers for navigation for many centuries .
Nautical charts
Modern nautical charts use the same symbol to indicate true north on the outer of the two compass circles of a compass rose. There it symbolizes the North Star. The US Coast & Geodetic Survey had already started using this symbol on its two-circle compass roses around 1900. (Earlier cards used the fleur de lis here ).
Character codes
The symbol is part of the Unicode character set. It is located there in the Dingbats code block under the Unicode number U+272Fwith the English-language name PINWHEEL STAR or the German-language name Fünfzagige Kompassrose ( ✯ ). These characters, in turn, are largely based on the ITC Zapf Dingbats character set designed by Hermann Zapf in 1978 , which was selected by Steve Jobs as the standard font for the LaserWriter in 1985 and subsequently became very popular.
Tattoos
The nautical star is used as a basic motif for tattoos . While the motif used to be a symbol of the happy homecoming of sailors through the guiding Pole Star, its meaning later developed in the figurative sense of finding the meaning of life. Sometimes he is attributed to Sailor Jerry .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ NOAA Chart User's Manual, Chapter 2: General Information ( PDF; 1.2 MB ( Memento from March 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))
- ↑ David Green Hood: Mapping. The University of Chicago Press, 1964, p. 64 ( digitized version )
- ^ New York Bay and Harbor, Coast Chart No. 120, 1: 8000, 1900
- ^ Jonathon L. McConnel: US Coast and Geodetic Survey Nautical Charts: A Cartographic History. Dissertation, June 2007 ( PDF; 7.16 MB ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. )
- ^ Hermann Zapf, ITC & Apple: The History of ITC Zapf Chancery & ITC Zapf Dingbats , accessed on March 3, 2016.
- ↑ Terisa Green: Nautical Star . In: The Tattoo Encyclopaedia. 2003 ( digitized version )
- ↑ John Reardon: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting a Tattoo. Penguin 2008, ISBN 1-440-63626-5 , chap. 3, p. 43.
