Stars and Constellations on Flags

Stars on flags

There are lots of flags which feature stars, including almost a third of national flags around the world. However, most of them are only representative and don’t match up with actual stars in the night sky. Probably most famous is the US flag – the Stars and Stripes – where the fifty stars represent the number of states. The nine stars on the flag of the Pacific nation of Tuvalu, although they look as though they might be a constellation, actually represent the geographical layout of the country’s nine islands. Others are symbolic, such as the black star on the flag of Ghana, representing African emancipation and unity in the struggle against colonialism.

Some sources claim that the Islamic symbol of the crescent and star represents Venus in conjunction with the Moon, although there isn’t consensus on this interpretation. This symbol can be seen on a number of national flags, including Turkey, Algeria, Pakistan and Azerbaijan.

The Plough

Heading to the Northern Hemisphere, it’s much harder to find such flags, in fact there are no national flags in the North depicting constellations. But if we’re prepared to go to smaller regions then there is a flag with an asterism. And it’s one that plays a similar role in navigation as the Southern Cross does in the South – the Plough.

The Plough (known in the States as the Big Dipper) is part of the constellation of Ursa Major, and it can be used to locate Polaris, the North Star, within the companion constellation, Ursa Minor. And the flag of Alaska, introduced in 1927, includes both. The North Star in particular is an obvious symbol of the northerly location and, as with the South Pacific flags, the reference to the navigational importance of these stars to the indigenous people is appropriately commemorated with their inclusion on the state flag.

Brazil

We’ve looked at the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, but for the mother and father of all constellation flags we’re heading to the Equator, and Brazil. Adopted in 1889, the flag includes 27 stars which are both symbolic and correctly positioned in the night sky.

The number of stars represents the number of Brazilian states.  Not only that, but their location relative to the celestial sphere is broadly representative of geography – the single star above the Celestial Equator represents the small amount of Brazilian territory north of the Equator.

Although there are few complete constellations, the stars shown are based on their actual positions in the Rio de Janeiro sky on the morning of 15 November 1889, the day the Brazilian Republic was declared. At the top left, just below the white band, is the star Procyon in Canis Minor. Below that, five stars from Canis Major, including Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Just below and right from those five, the star Canopus in Carina. Moving right again, the familiar main five stars of Crux, and below them, the faint star Sigma Octantis, the south pole star. Above Crux we have two stars from Hydra, and above the rightmost of those, the single “Northern Hemisphere” star, Spica in Virgo. Just below and to the right of Crux we see the three stars that make up Triangulum Australe, the Southern Triangle. And finally, on the right hand side of the celestial sphere, eight stars in Scorpius.

And so we have a clear winner in our search for constellations and asterisms on flags – for the perfect mix of astronomy and vexillology, book a holiday to Brazil!