69-404: A red star , five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology , particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle , but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. It has been widely used in flags , state emblems , monuments , ornaments , and logos . One interpretation sees the five points as representing
138-574: A New Year's tree , known as a yolka ( Russian : Ёлка ). These trees were often decorated with a red star, a practice that has continued in Russia since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union. Following its adoption as an emblem of the Soviet Union, the red star became a symbol for communism around the world. Several Communist states subsequently adopted the red star symbol, often placing it on their respective flags and coats of arms – for example on
207-508: A West German militant group, used a red star paired with a Heckler & Koch MP5 in their highly recognizable insignia. In 1994, the red star was included in the flag of the armed revolutionary Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas , Mexico . A number of communist parties in Turkey utilize the red star. Likewise, a number of Kurdish revolutionary organizations connected to
276-716: A star instead of a planet ) represented the West and was, in Classical mythology , the symbol of the Italian peninsula , which was western to Greece . The star (or mullet ) is comparatively rare in medieval heraldry, but from an early time, the five-pointed star was preferred in English and Scottish heraldry (e.g. in the Dering Roll , c. 1270), while the preferred number of points in German heraldry
345-605: A 5 point red star headband with gold or yellow background. The crescent moon and star was a symbol used by the Ottoman Empire . Various states with Ottoman history have thus adopted this symbol into their present-day flags. The red star was adopted as the symbol of the International Red Star Alliance , a Geneva international treaty signed in 1914 with the purpose of bringing about international cooperation on behalf of sick and wounded war animals , while securing
414-406: A parliamentary committee due to its conflict with freedoms guaranteed by the constitution of Estonia . The European Court of Human Rights has ruled, in a similar manner, against the laws that ban political symbols, which were deemed to be in clear opposition with basic human rights, such as freedom of speech, confirmed again in 2011 in case Fratanolo v. Hungary . The decision has been compared to
483-462: A red star. This led to criticism from the Slovenian democratic parties without a communist history. Emblems and flags where the red stars displayed are not five-pointed are much rarer. These include the following: Five-pointed star A five-pointed star (☆), geometrically an equilateral concave decagon , is a common ideogram in modern culture. Comparatively rare in classical heraldry , it
552-530: A significance that does not originally relate to socialism. Among these, the most well-known include the current state flag of California (echoing the Californian red star flag of 1836) and the flag of New Zealand (designed in 1869, officially adopted in 1902). The flag of the District of Columbia (designed in 1921, adopted in 1938) recalls George Washington's coat of arms . DC Comics ' Wonder Woman also wears
621-595: A significantly larger white central circle, while the narrower red and blue rings on such large white-centered variant insignia were often separated with additional white rings. From at least as early as the timeframe of the deployment of the First Marine Aviation Force in France during July 1918 until roughly 1922, the USMC's aviation units added an American eagle atop the roundel and a fouled anchor superimposed behind
690-690: A similar way medical personal worn brassards with red crosses. Following the War, the American Red Star turned to focus on domestic issues, including care for animals during disasters. The organization waxed and waned over the decades, and as of 2016 exists as the American Humane Association 's Red Star Animal Emergency Services . The red star was used by the Texaco oil company in various forms from 1909 to 1981. Its overseas division Caltex also used
759-600: A star used by the US Army Signal Corps Aviation Section , seen during the Pancho Villa punitive expedition , just over a year before American involvement in World War I began. The star was painted only on the vertical tail, in either red (the most often used color) or blue (less likely, due to the strictly orthochromatic photography of that era, rendering the red star as a black one in period photos). At
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#1732847859014828-432: A state's star with its initial. One arrangement features 13 five-pointed stars arranged in a circle, with the stars arranged pointing outwards from the circle (as opposed to up), the so-called Betsy Ross flag . The American flag shown in the painting Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull (c. 1820, depicting an event of 1781) shows twelve stars arranged along the outline of a rectangle with an additional star in
897-842: A symbol of the Red Army was proposed by the Military Collegium for the organization of the Red Army and the creator of the Red Star emblem was the Bolshevik commander of the Petrograd Military District , Konstantin Eremeev . On the other hand, one account of the symbol's origin traces its roots to the Moscow troop garrison toward the end of World War I . At this time, many troops were fleeing from
966-781: A yellow star on a red field. Examples of communes and villages in China named after the red star include Hongxing Village in Huilong Township, Hubei , China and Kizilto in Xinjiang (named Hongxing Commune during the Cultural Revolution ). Socialist countries in Africa also incorporated the red or gold stars into their heraldry. This practice was also adopted by countries that formed following anti-colonial national liberation struggles, which often involved Marxist organizations. By March 2010,
1035-610: Is customary to install similarly looking red stars atop New Year trees in the Soviet Union, a tradition that continues to this day in Russia. In the Emblem of Italy , adopted in 1947, the five-pointed star represents the " Star of Italy ". The Flag of Europe , designed in 1955 on behalf of the Council of Europe (CoE) and adopted by the European Communities in 1985 (and thus inherited as
1104-896: The Kurdistan Communities Union utilize the red star in their iconography. Those include the flags of the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the battle flag pennants of the People's Defence Forces and Free Women's Units in Turkish Kurdistan , the People's Protection Units and Women's Protection Units in Syrian Kurdistan , and the Eastern Kurdistan Units and Women's Defense Forces in Iranian Kurdistan . The Iranian Islamist-Socialist militant opposition group
1173-620: The Mojahedin-e-Khalq uses the red star with the rifle, sickle and the map of Iran in the background. The Brazilian leftist Worker's Party uses a red star as its symbol with the party acronym ( Portuguese : Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT ) inside. Hugo Chávez and his supporters in Venezuela have used the red star in numerous symbols and logos, and have included it in the logo of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). It
1242-501: The Ottoman Empire was shown with an eight-pointed stars in early forms (18th century), but was changed to a five-pointed star in the official flag in 1844. Numerous other national or regional flags adopted five-pointed star designs in the later 19th to early 20th century, including Venezuela (1859), Honduras (1866), Puerto Rico (1895), Philippines (1898), Cuba (1902), Panama (1925), Jordan (1928) and Pakistan (1947). The Flag of Minnesota and 1901 Maine Flag both utilized
1311-548: The Pahonia ; the Soviet-era heraldry was re-adopted in 1995, and continues to be used today with minor modifications in 2012 and 2020. In former Yugoslavia the red star served not only a communist symbol, but also as a more generic symbol of resistance against Fascism and the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia , as well as of opposition to its associated ethnic policies. Tito's partisans wore
1380-544: The Renaissance period . The two emblems are frequently associated, or identified, in contemporary conspiracy theories , especially referencing the use of five-pointed stars in the flags of the United States and European Union . Unicode provides various Five-pointed Star Symbol: United States military aircraft national insignia#History This is a listing of the nationality markings used by military aircraft of
1449-612: The Russian government readopted the Soviet red star (but now with a blue outline reflecting the three colors – white, blue and red – of the Russian flag) as a military insignia. The Russian Air Force used this star as a roundel up to 2013, when Russia re-instated the Soviet-era red star. As of 2014 the Armed Forces of Belarus still use the old Soviet red star. The coat of arms of Armed Forces of
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#17328478590141518-670: The Union Army in the American Civil War , while VII Corps used a five-pointed star in a crescent . In 1916, a five-pointed red star was used by the U.S. Army Signal Corps ' aviation section. The U.S. tradition of barnstars , decorative five-pointed stars attached to buildings, appears to have arisen in Pennsylvania after the Civil War, and became widespread by the 1930s. The Swiss 1 and 2 francs coins introduced in 1874–5 showed
1587-737: The flag of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . Separatist and socialist movements also sometimes adopted the red star, as on the Estelada flag in the Catalan countries . The red star became a common element of the flags and heraldry of socialist states in the Eastern Bloc , appearing in heraldry for virtually all of the countries, and on the flags of Bulgaria , Hungary , Romania , and Albania . From 1991 to 1995, Belarus dropped its Soviet-style emblem in favor of an emblem featuring
1656-470: The hammer and sickle are regarded as occupation symbols as well as symbols of totalitarianism and state terror by several countries that were formerly either members of or occupied by the Soviet Union . Accordingly, Latvia , Lithuania , Hungary and Ukraine have banned the symbol among others deemed to be symbols of totalitarian political ideologies and the Soviet Union or its republics. In Poland ,
1725-509: The legislation concerning the symbols of Nazism , which continue to be banned in several European Union member states, including Germany and France . There have been calls for an EU-wide ban on both Soviet and Nazi symbols, notably by politicians from Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic , Hungary and Slovakia . The European Commissioner for Justice, Franco Frattini , felt it "might not be appropriate" to include communist symbols in
1794-458: The 5-pointed design. In 19th century the five-pointed star, which has always represented Italy , is on the copper cents coins of Vittorio Emanuele II king of Italy . Even today we find the five-pointed star in the emblem of the Italian Republic . The five-pointed star also came to be widely used in military badges in the 19th century. A red star was used as the badge of XII Corps of
1863-531: The Austrian and German fronts, joining the local Moscow garrison upon their arrival in the city. To distinguish the Moscow troops from the influx of retreating front-liners, officers gave out tin stars to the Moscow garrison soldiers to wear on their hats. When those troops joined the Red Army and the Bolsheviks they painted their tin stars red, the color of socialism, thus creating the original red star. The red star
1932-623: The Parliament passed in 2009 a ban that referred generally to "fascist, communist or other totalitarian symbols", while not specifying any of them. Following a constitutional complaint, it has been abolished by the Constitutional Tribunal as contrary to articles in the Constitution of Poland guaranteeing the freedom of speech . A similar law was considered in Estonia , but eventually failed in
2001-568: The Republic of Kazakhstan includes a modified version of the Soviet red star. Transnistria and the Luhansk People's Republic are proto-states located in Eastern Europe . Due to their historical association with the Soviet Union, they have adopted socialist imagery – including the red star – into their flags and heraldry. Several sporting clubs from countries ruled by communist parties used
2070-469: The Soviet Union established the Order of the Red Star and awarded its insignia to Red Army and Soviet Navy personnel for "exceptional service in the cause of the defense of the Soviet Union in both war and peace". The Soviet and Russian Federation military newspaper bore and bears the name Red Star ( Russian : Krasnaya Zvezda ). During the 1930s, Soviet publications encouraged the practice of decorating
2139-521: The Torch landings and for this a chrome yellow ring (of unspecified thickness) was temporarily added to the outside of the roundel to reduce incidents of Americans shooting down unfamiliar British aircraft, which could themselves be distinguished by a similar yellow outline on the RAF's "Type C.1" fuselage roundels of the time. None of these solutions was entirely satisfactory as friendly fire incidents continued and so
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2208-573: The US Government initiated a study that discovered that the red wasn't the issue since color couldn't be determined from a distance anyway, but the shape could be. After trying out several variations including an oblong roundel with two stars, they arrived at using white bars flanking the sides of the existing roundel, all with a red outline, which became official in June 1943. This still wasn't entirely satisfactory and at least one operational unit refused to add
2277-513: The United States became embroiled in the spreading conflict. The other reason was to “eliminate a balanced target” by presenting a somewhat asymmetrical effect — if you see two white stars (i.e., one on each wing), it is easier to aim your guns between them. The US Navy resisted this change and reverted to the roundel on each wing early in the war January 5, 1942. However, the US Navy finally adopted
2346-477: The United States, including those of the U.S. Air Force , U.S. Navy , U.S. Marine Corps , U.S. Coast Guard , U.S. Army and their predecessors. The Civil Air Patrol is also included for the World War II period because it engaged in combat operations (primarily anti-submarine flights) which its July 1946 charter has since explicitly forbidden. The first military aviation insignias of the United States include
2415-601: The asymmetrical single wing insignia February 1, 1943. In the months after Pearl Harbor - following the late-June 1941 conversion of the USAAC into the United States Army Air Forces - it was thought that the central red dot could be mistaken for a Japanese Hinomaru , from a distance and in May 1942 it was eliminated. On aircraft in service they were painted over with white. During November 1942, US forces participated in
2484-506: The battle, which probably changed the outcome of the entire War of the Roses . The five-pointed stars on the flag of the United States were introduced in the Flag Act of 1777 . The Flag Act did not specify any particular arrangement, number of points, nor orientation for the stars and the arrangement. Some flag makers arranged the stars into one big star, in a circle or in rows and some replaced
2553-487: The blue outline in the 1970s, and later some aircraft replaced the blue and red with black or a countershaded color, or used a stencil to create an outlined "low-visibility" version. Almost all USAF aircraft now use low-visibility roundels in black or gray, with the full-color version limited to a small number of uncamouflaged aircraft such as the E-3 and E-8. Partly due to the 1964 adoption, and early-April 1967 display initiation of
2622-466: The center. Five-pointed stars became more frequently used in the 19th century. The coat of arms of Valais , adopted for the Rhodanic Republic (1802), was designed with twelve five-pointed stars. The flag of Chile , introduced in 1817, has a single five-pointed star known as La Estrella Solitaria (The Lone Star). The similar flag of Texas was introduced in 1839. The star and crescent used by
2691-407: The centre red circle was reduced slightly from being 1/3 of the diameter of the blue circular field, to being bound by the edges of an imaginary regular pentagon connecting the inner points of the star. The US Army Air Corps began painting its roundel on only the top of the left wing and only the bottom of the right wing February 26, 1941, intended to help facilitate recognition of friend and foe if
2760-604: The colors in the French order. The order of the USAAS roundel's colors were similar to those of the defunct Imperial Russian Air Service . No connection existed between the US roundel and other Allied forces' military aircraft services, beyond the fact that the United States had joined the Allies of World War I and was using a tricolor roundel in what was now an available order. Tsarist aircraft often used
2829-411: The communist red star. Red stars were included in the symbolism of many shipowners , such as Puget Sound Navigation Co. (1898-1927), Bombay Steam Navigation Co (since the 19th century), London & Overseas Freighters (1948-1997) and Columbia Transportation Division of the Oglebay Norton Corporation . The two companies were independently named Red Star Line in the 19th century. The red star and
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2898-416: The context of discussions on xenophobia and anti-Semitism. In 2003, Hungarian politician Attila Vajnai was arrested, handcuffed and fined for wearing a red star on his lapel during a demonstration. He appealed his sentence to the European Court of Human Rights , which decided that the ban was a violation of the freedom of expression, calling the Hungarian ban "indiscriminate" and "too broad". In Slovenia ,
2967-415: The figure of Helvetia surrounded by 22 stars, enumerating the Swiss cantons (in 1983 changed to 23 stars to reflect the creation of the canton of Jura ). The green five-pointed star used as a symbol of Esperanto was first proposed in 1890. The five-pointed Red Star as a symbol of communism was adopted during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922, but its exact origin is unclear. The red star
3036-437: The five fingers of the worker's hand, as well as the five populated continents (counting the Americas as one). A lesser-known suggestion is that in communist symbolism , the five points on the star were intended to represent the five social groups that would lead Russia to communism: the youth , the military, the industrial labourers , the agricultural workers or peasantry and the intelligentsia . In Soviet heraldry,
3105-399: The flag of the European Union upon its creation in 1993) has a circle of twelve yellow (gold) stars on a blue (azure) field. The use of "star" for theatrical lead performers dates to 1824, giving rise to the concept of "stardom" in the film industry. The Hollywood Walk of Fame , where famous entertainers are honored with pink terrazzo five-pointed stars along Hollywood Boulevard ,
3174-407: The flags of New Zealand and the U.S. state of California . The red star has also been used as logo by private agencies and corporations, such as the oil giant Texaco and beer multinational Heineken . The star's origins as a symbol of communist mass movements dates from the time of the Bolshevik Revolution and the Russian Civil War , but the precise first use remains unknown. The red star as
3243-427: The most common arrangement. Five-pointed stars may be used on elevators to indicate the ground level or lobby of a building. They are also used on various police, fire, and paramedic badges. As a symbol or emblem, the five-pointed star, or mullet of five points , arises from classical heraldry, and it shares none of the esoteric or occult associations given to the pentagram , or " Seal of Solomon ", since at least
3312-425: The neutral status of the personnel engaged in such work. Besides the International Alliance, national Red Star societies were also established. Regarding animal relief, the International Red Star Alliance had an analogous role of that of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement . To identify their neutral status, white brassards with red stars were worn by military veterinary personnel in World War I in
3381-561: The red star as a symbol and named themselves after it, such as the Serbian club Red Star Belgrade ( Serbian : Црвена звезда / Crvena zvezda ), the East German Roter Stern Leipzig , the Angolan Estrela Vermelha do Huambo , the Estrela Vermelha from Beira, Mozambique or the Czechoslovak Rudá Hvězda Brno . Some sports teams from non-communist countries used it, such as French Red Star from Paris, Swiss club FC Red Star Zürich , English Seaham Red Star F.C. , and even an American women's soccer club ( Chicago Red Stars —though in that case
3450-423: The red star as an identification symbol during World War II. As communist movements spread across Asia, some entities used a red star, while others used a yellow star (often on a red field) with the same symbolism. The Far Eastern Republic of 1920 to 1922 used a yellow star on its military uniforms, and the flag of the People's Republic of China has five yellow stars on a red field. The flag of Vietnam also has
3519-414: The red star for the national insignia for U.S. aircraft on the aircraft of the Signal Corps' 1st Aero Squadron during the Pancho Villa Expedition to apprehend the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa . The symbol became one of the most prominent of the Soviet Union , adorning nearly all official buildings, awards and insignia. Sometimes the hammer and sickle appeared inside or below the star. In 1930
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#17328478590143588-434: The red star symbolized the Red Army and military service, as opposed to the hammer and sickle, which symbolized peaceful labour. Some former Warsaw Pact nations have passed laws banning it, seeing as it represents a totalitarian ideology. The red star has also been used in a non-communist context and before the emergence of this movement, in symbols of countries and states since the 19th century. It appears for example on
3657-413: The red star until 1996. Red Star Yeast was produced for a century in Milwaukee, Baltimore, and Oakland before its subsumption as a brand by Lesaffre . A brand of Erguotou , a type of Baijiu , was named " Hongxing " ( Chinese : 红星 ; lit. 'Red Star') in 1949 to celebrate the founding of the People's Republic of China . North Korea 's Red Star operating system takes its name from
3726-413: The red star was historically associated with the resistance movement that fought against fascist occupation in World War II, but was also later a state symbol of Yugoslavia during the dictatorship of Josip Broz Tito . On 21 March 2011, Slovenia issued a two-euro commemorative coin to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Franc Rozman , a partisan commander, featuring a large star that represented
3795-405: The red, resulting in bare white bars on the existing star roundel. The red outline was then replaced with a blue outline whose color exactly matched the round blue field that held the star in September 1943. On US Navy aircraft painted overall in gloss midnight blue starting in 1944, the blue color of the roundels was similar to midnight blue, so the blue portion was eventually dispensed with and only
3864-416: The roundel, mimicking the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor emblem on the fuselage sides in the manner of a unit insignia. In May 1917 the US adopted a red circle-centered white star in a dark blue circular field for all United States military aircraft. In August 1919, following the Armistice that ended World War I, the colors were adjusted to the current standards and the proportions were adjusted slightly so that
3933-416: The roundels they used for the same reason the United States already had. In January 1947, single bisecting, lengthwise-running red bars, one per side, were added within the existing white bars on both USN and USAAF aircraft – both replacing the old center red circle, and restoring the official presence of a red device in the insignia, much as with the red stripes of the American flag – and in September of
4002-442: The same time, the US Navy was using a blue anchor on the rudders of its seaplanes. As of 19 May 1917 all branches of the military, outside of the Western Front of Europe were to use a circular dark-blue field containing the single, five-pointed regular pentagram -outline white star, symbolic of a U.S. state from the national flag, itself containing a central red circle, painted in the official flag colors . A tricolor roundel
4071-455: The same year, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) became an independent service and was renamed the United States Air Force (USAF). In 1955 the USN would repaint all its aircraft from midnight blue to light grey over white and would use exactly the same roundel as the USAF again. Since then there have been some minor variations, mostly having to do with low-visibility versions of the star and bars roundel. Air superiority F-15s eliminated
4140-407: The star is based on the flag of Chicago and not on the communist logo). The American soccer clubs Sacramento Republic FC and D.C. United also use red stars in their logos, referencing the flags of California and the District of Columbia respectively. The German rowing club Pirnaer Ruderverein 1872 began (and continues) to use red star since the 19th century. In 1970, the Red Army Faction ,
4209-401: The star represented one of the five traditional continents. On hearing that, Trotsky specified that soldiers of the Red Army should wear a similar red star. Regardless of the star's exact origin, it was incorporated into the Red Army 's uniforms and heraldry as early as 1918. Shortly before the founding of the Soviet Union, in mid-March 1916 the U.S. Army Signal Corps ' aviation section used
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#17328478590144278-414: The white portion of the roundel was painted on the aircraft. In the Pacific Theater, some British Commonwealth aircraft in service with the British Pacific Fleet , and Royal New Zealand Air Force , as with Lend Lease Chance Vought F4U Corsairs , began to officially sport the white "bars" as a more-or-less "universal" symbol on Allied aircraft opposing the Japanese, while also eliminating the red center of
4347-485: Was also used throughout 2007 as a symbol of the "5 Engines of the Bolivarian Socialist Revolution ". It is also used by the militant South African shack -dweller's movement Abahlali baseMjondolo . Like in Latin America and Africa, several European socialist parties continue to use a star as a part of their logos. The red star is also featured prominently in the independence flags of various separatist movements in Spain . Some red stars adopted in emblems and flags have
4416-495: Was featured on the state emblem of the Soviet Union since 1923 and has been in use in North Korea since 1948. Another variant is a yellow (golden) star on red background, as on the state emblem of Vietnam (1945) and the People's Republic of China (1949), as well as on the flags of most Communist countries. In the 1930s, red luminescent Kremlin stars were installed on five towers of the Moscow Kremlin , replacing gilded eagles that had symbolized Imperial Russia . Since then, it
4485-449: Was introduced by the US Army Air Service in February 1918 for commonality with the other European Allies , all of whom used similar roundels. American aircraft also used vertically-striped British and French style tricolors on the rudders during World War I, the British and French markings having the blue stripe forward, while American regulations specified that their aircraft have the red stripe forward although some of their aircraft had
4554-419: Was introduced in 1958. In association football , there is a tradition of using five-pointed stars in team badges to represent victories. The first team to adopt such a star was Juventus , in 1958, to represent their tenth Italian Football Championship and Serie A title. The star was later formally adopted by some organisations as a symbol for ten titles, and the ratio of one star for ten titles has become
4623-430: Was notably introduced for the flag of the United States in the Flag Act of 1777 and since has become widely used in flags. It has also become a symbol of fame or " stardom " in Western culture, among other uses. Sopdet , the Egyptian personification of the star Sirius , is always shown with the five-pointed star hieroglyph on her head. The five-pointed star is the oldest symbol of Italy . Venus (once considered
4692-458: Was six. The star in the coat of arms of the De Vere family was in legend attributed to the First Crusade , when "a white star [...] did light and arrest upon the standard of Aubre de Vere ". The de Vere star is notorious in English history, because in the Battle of Barnet in 1471, the star badge of the Earl of Oxford was mistaken for the sun badge of Edward IV by the Earl of Warwick , so that he erroneously attacked his own ally, losing
4761-478: Was used in communist media as early as in 1908 with the publication of the novel Red Star by Bolshevik revolutionary Alexander Bogdanov , which describes a technologically advanced communist civilization on Mars. Another claimed origin for the red star relates to an alleged encounter between Leon Trotsky and Nikolai Krylenko . Krylenko, an Esperantist , wore a green-star lapel badge; Trotsky inquired as to its meaning and received an explanation that each arm of
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