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Islamic flags

Crescent and star
International flags for Islam

Crescent and star

I don't know what the Islamic meaning is but the two are one of the signs of Tanit - a goddess from the semitic part of the Roman Empire. I suspect the symbol must have been islamised.
andy fear - 1995-08-09

it is of interest that the moon and star appear on many coats of arms in countries like Hungary, indicating service in crusades (probably against Turks). In fact, my guess is that the symbols came about with the Turks; the Arabs don't seem to have adopted them much (Tunisia and Algeria excepted).
alex justice - 1995-08-09

I heard that the star-and-crescent were the symbols of Constantinople (either due to the Virgin Mary or to some pre- Christian goddess), and were adopted by the Turks after they conquered the Roman Empire (Bizantium).
robert czernkowski - 1995-08-10

A commonly used symbol of Islam, the crescent and star, may represent a "conjunction of the moon and Venus [that] took place in the dawn sky of July 23, 610" according to Gerald S. Hawkins, author of _Stonehenge Decoded_ (Ahmad 1992). Some believe this night exactly coincides with the night in which the Prophet [Muhammad] recieved his initial revelation from God.... While it is true that this night is very close to the actual night of the first revelation, it is not certain that it is the exact one (Ahmad 1992)." (Aggour 1995).
Aggour, Kareem S.1995 Creation, Cosmogony, and Astronomy in Islam.
Ahmad, I.D. 1992 Signs in the Heavens: A Muslim Astronomer's Perspective on Religion and Science. Write's Inc. - International, Maryland.
Kareem S Aggour - 1996-07-19

The thing that always gets me about the crescent and star is that the way it is usually depicted is astronomically impossible, in that the star is in front of the disc of the moon.
James Dignan - 1996-07-23

I believe that this is, sometimes oversimplified, an image of the planet Venus coming from behing the dark side of the moon. Of course, the star can not be visible though the dark part of the moon disc, at least until we (or someone else :-) make some big towns over there.
Zeljko Heimer - 1996-07-24

International flags for Islam

Unless one takes a plain green banner (similar to Libya's) as a broad representation of Islam (said to have been borne by the Propher Muhammad PBUH), there is not an Islamic flag.
The best representative body here would be the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1990. Photos from that time show a green flag, edged all around with white (though this _may_ simply be a fringe, the sort of wide fringe often seen on Saudi flags), with a large white circle in the center, upon which is a red crescent, points up, and within the crescent the name of the body in calligraphic Arabic.
Beyond this, there is of course the Arab League, but this is "Arab" and not "Islamic."
ed haynes - 1995-10-06

The international Red Crescent flag (used in Moslem countries where a Red Cross would not accord with Community Standards) could be considered as "representing Islam".
will linden - 1995-10-06

There is no flag, symbol, or color for Islam.
For 14 centuries many Islamic arts were created which used all sort of symbols and colors with no preference (except to enhance the beauty, the harmony, etc.)
Flags, symbols, colors are not part of Islam, and I think in any other religion too.
Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) didn't have any flag, or suggested the use of a certain symbol by any color.
In general, a flag is a symbol that a group of people invented to be distinguished from other groups: countries, races, teams, organizations, etc. And may represent a historical event, message, etc.

The Crescent
The cresent moon was the symbol used by the last Islamic Khlafa (state); the Outmanic empire. And it is still in the flag of some Muslim countries.Other countries used to have it in their flags (e.g. Egypt).
The reason cresent was used (as far as I know), is because that the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar month (for several reasons). See for example "http://www.cob.ohio-state.edu/facstf/homepage/muhanna/hijri-intro".
The symbol by by 'itself' doesn't have any relation to Islam.

Green
There is no such thing as a favorite color in Islam.
Green is a `peaceful` color. It is used to refer to peace in some flags (for Muslim and non Muslim countries).

`Islam` is an Arabic word, it is derived from the Arabic verb 'salama' which is the verb of 'salam': peace. The Muslims' greeting is: peace be upon you. A name of the paradise is 'dar al-salam': the place of peace, etc.

Wael S. Ellithy - 1996-08-08

...which is also reflected in the official name of the Sultanate of Brunei (Brunei Darussalam), and in the name of Dar Es Salaam, one of the largest ports in Eastern Africa.
James Dignan - 1996-08-26