0.2 Identifying the flags of the souvenir of egypt  (Page 4/7)

"Where the star came from is not so clear. A star within a crescent was a badge of Richard I more than two hundred and fifty years before Constantinoplefell, which implies that the crescent was adopted by the Saracens if, as we are told, the device was emblematic of the crusades and the star stood for the star of Bethlehem. In his badgeRichard placed the crescent on its back and the star above it; but when Mohammedanism became triumphant the Turks took the star and placed it with the upright crescent where the dark areaof the moon should be, from which on some flags it has emerged. Others tell us it is the star of piercing brightness, themorning star, Al Târek, the star which appeareth by the night of the eighty-sixth chapter of the Korân..."

“flags through the ages and across the world” written by whitney smith in 1975

Let's take a look at the table of contents for our options.

As we continue to browse this book we find our symbol in this fascinating chart.

A scan of the index brings us to the pages on Egypt, the nation of origin for our flag.

The Ottoman flag in the nineteenth century normally bore a white star and crescent on its red field, although both Turkish and Egyptian ships very frequently displayed the old,plain red ensign. Muhammad Ali did introduce one distinctive new flag which eventually became the first real Egyptian national flag. Perhaps to symbolize the victory of his armies in threecontinents (Europe, Asia, and Africa) or his own sovereignty over Egypt, Nubia, and the Sudan, Ali set three white crescents and three stars on a red field. Technically only the personalstandard of Muhammad Ali--and of those who followed him as hereditary rules of Egypt under the title of khedive--the flag was at least a mark of distinction between Egypt and Turkey.