Star and Crescent

The star and crescent is the best-known attribute used to represent Islam. It appears on the flags of many countries in the Islamic world, like Turkey and Pakistan.

Surprisingly, this symbol is not Muslim in origin. Rather, it was a polytheistic icon adopted during the spread of Islam, and its use today is sometimes contraversal in the Muslim world. The crescent and star are generally said to be Islamic symbols, but historians say that they were the insignia of the Ottoman Empire, not of Islam as a whole.

It is important to know that Islam has few traditional symbols, and the crescent moon and star are not ones that are recognized as traditional symbols by Muslims. The symbol is due to cultural circulation and spread of Islam to the Ottoman turks who ruled a big area and aswell put the crescent moon and star attribute on their flag. It has since then become associated with Islam.

Buddhist Wheel Symbol - Dharmachakra

The wheel is one of the a most important Buddhist symbols, as it represents the teching of the Buddha. The Buddha was the one who "turned the turn the dharma" and thus the wheel symbol is the Dharmachakra, or "wheel of law." The Tibetan term for this symbol, chos kyi'khor lo, means "the wheel of transformation."

The wheel aswell represents the endless cycle of samsara, or rebirth, which can only be escaped by means of the Buddha's teachings.

Today, the Dharmachakra appears in the art of every Buddhist culture.

Some Tibetan wrathful deities are depicted brandishing a wheel as a weapon to beat evil and ignorance.