To the right you see the flag of Turkiye. There are many imitators, but they are just that... Due to the 1,000 year fight of Muslim Turk and Christian Europe, the symbols have come to be mistakingly representative of Islam by Europeans and now the world. The Crescent Moon and Star (Sun during the Ottoman Empire) are ancient Turkish celestial symbols of power originating from the Turkish, ancestoral lands of Siberia and Central Asia.
Its origins are not Arabic or Persian and it can not be Islamic due to the
strict, religious doctrines forbiding the usage of any symbols or
the painting/drawing/sclupting of human faces... these very
important religious facts are disregarded today by those trying to claim the
Moon & Star as their own today.
Needless to say, the origins of the Crescent & Sun/star are in fact Turkish from ancient times, pre-Islamic. The Turks believed in Shamanisim and more importantly the one supreme Sky God (Tanri) along side others gods like that of the Moon & Sun, when they roamed nomadicaly on horseback in the steppes of Siberia & central Asia.
In the 10th century, the Turks accepted Islam on their own will and conquered the Middle East. Witin a few centuries, the Turks became extremely powerful and strected an empire from the gates of Vienna, Austria, Russia all the way to Spain in the west. They brought into Islam their own free spirit, dynamizm, Turkish culture, superstitions and serious beliefs as well. This is the origin of how the Crescent Moon & Star came into the Islamic world.
The importance of the celestial bodies can be seen in many Turk epics,
poems, songs, names etc... One quick example is that of the legendary
leader of the Western Turks, Oguz Khan, named his first 3
born Sun, Moon, & Star emphasizing the importance of the celestial
objects to Turks.
The founder of the Ottoman Turkish empire, Osman, had a dream in which he
invisioned a Crescent Moon stretching over the Earth, he took it as a
good sign and made it the symbol of his dynasty. Where ever a Turkish army
met with a Euro-Christian one, of course it would be seen that the Turks
used a Moon and Europeans assumed that this was the symbol of
Islam used by muslim people. [this was wrong of course, as I said no
symbols are allowed, but Turks quite often incorporated their own
beliefs and free spirit regarding the religion]
So, over the 1,000 year fight of Muslim Turk and Christian
Europe, the symbols have come to be mistakingly representative
of Islam by Europeans and now the world. The Crescent Moon and
Star are ancient Turkish celestial symbols of power originating from the
Turkish, ancestoral lands of Siberia and Central Asia. You see for a 1000
years Turks were the warriors, the leaders of Islam so it is not unusual that
our symbols have been adopted by many present-day countries that are by a
majority muslim. But it doesn't mean that the symbols are Islamic or
muslim. Unfortunately, this confusion will most likely never be cleared
up. It is very deep in the minds of the world, even the Muslim world.
Interesting note:
The representative color of all Turks in the world is Skyblue or
Turquiose, but we have also ascribed color to the
four cardinal directions (North=Black, East=SkyBlue, South=White, &
West=Red). Therefore, the Red background is used to
indicate that we are the most geographically western of our family.
(Over time and among the folk, the color has also come to represent the
Turkish blood shed over the centuries of warfare.)
REFERENCES
p. 96 "Thus all Siberian Turkic peoples have preserved elements of the worship of the sky, SUN, MOON, stars, the Great Bear, Venus and so on"
"Many peculiar features belonging to particular nationalities and ethnic groups existed in the ideas of Siberian Turks regarding CELESTIAL DIETIES"
p. 61 The Turkish shamans begin their seances (ceremony to contact with the spirit world) by addressing the "spirits emphasizing magnificence of supernatural allies beginning with: My MOON and SUN
2) "EVENK CONCEPTS ABOUT THE UNIVERSE"
p. 75 Regarding the Turks of the open steppe, "...ideas of heavenly bodies are fully developed among people who live in the great open areas." KUN-AY (i.e. SUN-MOON), a symbol of the utmost celestial brilliancy ascribed to temporal and spiritual monarchs."
3) "SHAMMANISM IN EURASIA" by Mihaly Hoppal
p. 514 chp. xxi 'shammanism & totemism'
"Besides the "SUN" and "MOON", which in most costumes hang on the back, a number of human-like & bird-like spirit images are used" This is regarding the costume of the Turkish shaman.
4) "BENGU-TAS" by E. Esin
p. 152 The author lists some important beings who assist the soul (isik oz)of a deceased individual in his celestial ascension. The first 2 listed were the SOLAR GOD = KUN TENGRI AZURE DRAGON = KOK-LUU....
p. 155 Then there is the cryptic signs on funerary steles. "The pictogram, consisting in a CRESCENT & SOLAR disc, was in Shang-Chou, as well as in THE TURKISH PERIOD, when it was called KUN-AY (i.e. SUN-MOON), a symbol of the utmost celestial brilliancy ascribed to temporal and spiritual monarchs."
5) "MONGOLIAN FOLK RELIGION & ITS PANTHEON"
p. 97 In this source there is a lenghty description of the equestrian diety Geser Khan in which the symbol of the SUN is on his helmet and the symbol of the MOON is on his shield. Furthermore, the bordering Tibetians having been in contact with Turks & Mongols sing poetic expressions of him saying "... his head visibly ornamentted with SUN & MOON." In addition, the bordering Tibetians have these 2 symbols on their pointed helmets.
6) "SHAMANISM ARCHAIC TECHNIQUES of ECSTASY" by Mircea Eliade
Bollingen Series LXXVI
p 172 Explicit description of the Moon & Sun symbols created on drums used by Altay Shamans
7) "ESKI TURK YAZITLARI" (Ancient Turk Writings) by Namik Orkun
p 961 Descriptions & images of ancient Turk stone carvings done by Central Asian Turks. Images include a very thin Crescent Moon & large Sun shape
8) IBN RUSTA Arab historian & geographer (c930)
"The Magyars are a race of Turks and their king rides out with horsemen to the number of 10,000... The Magyars worship the SUN and the MOON."
