The crescent and star, or moon and star, is an ancient symbol composed of a crescent and a star placed at the open end of the crescent. Flags bearing this symbol are found mostly around the Mediterranean, in the Middle East, and in Central Asia. Today it is known chiefly as a symbol used on the flags of Islamic countries.
The crescent-and-star figure is also one of the most frequently used elements of Sumerian iconography. In its use there, the "crescent" represents the "Moon God" (Sin). The star, meanwhile, symbolizes Ishtar, or Venus, which also appears in ancient Roman mythology. Alongside these two symbols, the sun disk Shamash was also used. In many academic studies, within Sumerian society the "crescent and star" is defined as part of a triple symbol: the Moon of Sin, the Star of Ishtar, and the Sun of Shamash.
The combined use of the crescent-and-star symbol is first encountered in the ancient Kingdom of Israel. There it was used by Moab, or the Moabites, who ruled in the late 14th or 13th century BCE. The name Moabites is frequently found on seals.
This symbol, later used by the Parthians as well, is also seen to have been frequently used in the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. These symbols appear on the coins struck by the Parthian kings Mithridates I (147 BCE), Orodes II (58–38 BCE), and Phraates IV (38–2 BCE).
Moreover, the crescent-and-star symbols had been used by the states of Mesopotamia and the state of Elam a full two millennia before they were used by the Parthians. In Babylonian mythology, Sin (the father of time and the Moon god), Shamash (the Sun god and supreme ruler, judge of earth and heaven), and Ishtar (the star goddess) were portrayed as the sources of the Babylonian king's powers.