Moon (heraldry)

Crescent moon with a human face, coat of arms of Boswil , Canton Aargau

The moon , also called moonlight , is a common figure in heraldry .

It is usually shown in coats of arms and flags as a crescent moon (often not quite correctly called "half moon"), rarely as a full moon . In the sickle shape, the moon is often depicted with peaks that do not correspond to reality, because this shape is optically more attractive. Sometimes the moon, like the sun in heraldry , is depicted with a human face. In this form it is called formed or sighted in the blazon , without a face, accordingly uneducated or unseen .

Another representation in the coat of arms is the crescent moon for the rising and setting moon, pointing upwards ( lying ) or downwards ( floating ).

The French King Henry II used the representation of three intertwined crescent moons as an emblem. The French port city of Bordeaux also has the three moons in the city emblem.

In some coats of arms the crescent moon is a symbol for Mary , the mother of Jesus. Some other coats of arms show Mary as a crescent moon Madonna , i.e. Mary standing on the crescent moon.

Stars accompany the moon in many illustrations. The uneducated crescent moon with (often five-pointed) star is common in many coats of arms and flags of the Islamic world and is considered a symbol of Islam.

This symbol is also used for other display options (spiers, emblems of organizations).

Examples

• 

  entwined crescent moon in the city / municipality coat of arms

• 

  entwined crescent moons in stained glass in Castle Écouen , National Museum of the Renaissance, France

• 

  four crescents facing with the horns, see Lunel (heraldry)

Noble coat of arms

coat of arms	use	date	comment
	Baumbach coat of arms	since the 13th century	Hessian nobility
	Coat of arms of Finck von Finckenstein	since the 14th century	Prussian nobility
	Coat of arms of the dog of Saulheim	about 1300 to 1750	Rhenish Hessian noble family
	Ostrogskis coat of arms	since the 14th century	Ruthenian dynasty
	Coat of arms of the Godeffroy	since 17th century
	Leliwa, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta	since the 14th century
	Drzewica, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Bronisław, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Cielątkowa, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Print, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Erbs, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Gwiazdzicz, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Husarzewski, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Korczyk, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Korybut, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Kostrowiec, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Ksiezyc, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Kujk, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Kulikowski, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Kulak, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Lachnicki, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Orda, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Ostoja, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Ostrogski, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Przegonia, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Sas, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Szeliga, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Trzaska, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Wysocki, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Bozawola, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta
	Bolków, coat of arms of the Polish Szlachta

State and local coats of arms

coat of arms	use	comment
	Turkey coat of arms
	Attendorn coat of arms
	Dogern coat of arms
	Coat of arms of Glauchau
	Coat of arms of Halle (Saale)
	Coat of arms of Mondfeld
	Coat of arms of Monheim (Swabia)
	Coat of arms of Oelde
	Saulheim coat of arms
	Coat of arms of Stierstadt
	Coat of arms of Waldshut-Tiengen	( Crescent Madonna )
	Coat of arms of Au SG
	Oftringen coat of arms
	Coat of arms of Stetten SH
	Świebodzice coat of arms
	Tarnobrzeg coat of arms
	Wołczyn coat of arms
	Mińsk Mazowiecki coat of arms
	Coat of arms of Powiat Człuchowski
	Coat of arms of Kazimierz Dolny
	Coat of arms of Czarne
	Goleniów coat of arms
	Hinterstoder coat of arms	(fallen moon with paw cross)
	Mattighofen coat of arms
	Coat of arms of Mondsee	( speaking coat of arms)

Flags

National flags

flag	use	date	comment
	Flag of Algeria	1962–	Country with a Muslim majority population, the state religion is Sunni Islam , historical ties to the Ottoman Empire
	Flag of Azerbaijan	1918–1920 1990–	Country with a Muslim majority population, historical ties to the Ottoman Empire
	Flag of Brunei	1959–	Country with a Muslim majority population, the state religion is Sunni Islam
	Flag of Bosnia	1848-1878	historical ties to the Ottoman Empire
	Flag of Comoros	2003–	Country with a Muslim majority population
	Flag of the Cocos Islands
	Flag of Maldives	1965–	Country with a Muslim majority population, the state religion is Sunni Islam
	Flag of Mauritania	1959–	Country with a Muslim majority population, the state religion is Sunni Islam
	Flag of Mongolia	1992–	The sun and moon symbolize the eternal life of the nation
	Flag of Nepal	1962–	The crescent moon and star represent the royal family
	Flag of the de facto stabilized regime Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus	1984–	Country with a Muslim majority population, whose independence is only recognized by Turkey
	Flag of pakistan	1947–	Country with a Muslim majority population, the state religion is Islam
	Flag of Singapore	1959–	The crescent represents a young, emerging nation
	Flag of Tunisia	1956–	Country with a Muslim majority population, the state religion is Islam, historical ties to the Ottoman Empire
	Flag of turkey	1840– (today's form)	Secular republic with a Muslim majority population, successor state to the Ottoman Empire
	Flag of Turkmenistan	2001–	Country with a Muslim majority population
	Flag of Uzbekistan	1991–	Country with a Muslim majority population
	Flag of Malaysia	1963–	Country with a Muslim population, the state religion is Islam

More flags

flag	use	date	comment
	Flag of the US state of South Carolina	1861–	The crescent moon goes back to the American War of Independence when American troops pinned a ribbon with a crescent moon and the motto "Freedom or Death" to their hats in 1775.
	Easter Island flag		Sets reimiro is
	Standard of the Turkish President		The 16 stars symbolize the largest Turkish states in history. The sun in the center of these stars represents the Republic of Turkey .
	Flag of the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus		The flag of the president, which is used by the president of the TRNC, is based on the national flag. However, it has a red and yellow star in the upper left corner, the upper bar is shorter and the flag has a yellow fringe.
	Flag of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement	1929–
	Flag of the Historic State of Hatay	1938-1939	historical ties to Turkey
	Flag of the historic Southwest Caucasian Republic	1918-1920	historical ties to the Ottoman Empire
	Flag of the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakistan	since 1992
	Türkmeneli, unofficial flag of the Iraq Turkmen and their settlement areas in Iraq
	Belarus Tatars of Turkic Ethnicity Minority Flag
	Flag of Uyghur separatists from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China		Banned within the People's Republic of China
	Flag of the largely Islamic, Indonesian province of Aceh
	Flag of the Malaysian Province of Terengganu
	Flag of the Malaysian Province of Johor
	Flag of the Malaysian Province of Kelantan
	Flag of the Emirate of Umm al-Qaiwain ( UAE )
	Flag of the Tatar Center		former "Turkish-Tatar Community Idel-Ural" in Russia

Web links

Commons : Moon in Heraldry  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ more detailed explanations only on the French-language website Heinrich II.
2. ↑ French language website of the city of Bordeaux (online)
3. ^ Community Langenmosen: coat of arms. In: House of Bavarian History . Retrieved March 5, 2019 .