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Crescent

For other uses, see Crescent (disambiguation).
Crescent
  • Top left: waxing crescent moon
  • Top right: open crescent[a]
  • Lower left: closing crescent[b]
  • Lower right: crescent art in roundabout

A crescent shape (/ˈkrɛsənt/, UK also /ˈkrɛzənt/)[1] is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself.

In Hindu Iconography, Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his head, symbolising his control over time, as well as his attributes of both creation and destruction.[2]

It is used as the astrological symbol for the Moon, and hence as the alchemical symbol for silver. It was also the emblem of Diana/Artemis, and hence represented virginity. In veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church, it is associated with Mary, mother of Jesus.

From its use as roof finial in Ottoman mosques, it has also become associated with Islam, and the crescent was introduced as chaplain badge for Muslim United States military chaplains in 1993.[3]


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  1. ^ from Middle English cressaunt 'crescent-shaped ornaments'; from Old French creissant 'crescent shape'; from Latin crēscēns 'growing, waxing'.
    See e.g. the following:
    • "crescent". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
    • "crescent". CollinsDictionary.com. HarperCollins.
    • "crescent". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  2. ^ Chwalkowski, Farrin (2016-12-14). Symbols in Arts, Religion and Culture: The Soul of Nature. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 338. ISBN 978-1-4438-5728-4.
  3. ^ On December 14, 1992, the Army Chief of Chaplains requested that an insignia be created for future Muslim chaplains, and the design (a crescent) was completed January 8, 1993. Emerson, William K., Encyclopedia of United States Army Insignia and Uniforms (1996), p. 269f. Prior to its association with Islam, a crescent badge had already been used in the US military for the rank of commissary sergeant (Emerson 1996:261f).

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