A hexagonal star of regular triangles superimposed on one another is best known as the Star of David. The meaning of this symbol, however, changed repeatedly before it hit the flag of the state of Israel. It is believed that the hexagram existed in a religious movement called "Tantrism," common at the beginning of our era in Nepal, India, Tibet. According to him, this element meant the harmony of the world of matter, which personified the upper triangle with the spiritual world (lower triangle). There was also an opinion about the interpretation of the sign as the unity of the male and female principles.
In the Middle East in antiquity there was also its own “Star of David”. The meaning of the hexagram here was associated with symbols dedicated to the goddess Ishtar. The very first signs of this configuration were found in different parts of the world (from Britain to Mesopotamia) and they belonged to quite distant times. For example, on the Iberian Peninsula, ornaments with such inclusions belong to the Iron Age of the pre-Roman period. What they meant among the peoples living there, scientists could not establish. Most likely, hexagrams were used in the performance of some religious and mystical rites.
It is difficult to find a developed culture where the symbolism that looked like a star of David would not be used. The significance in Christianity of this sign in the Middle Ages is difficult to determine. It was simply used as an element of seals (by French kings in the 9-10th centuries), was an element of a pattern for decoration of architectural monuments. For example, today the star of David can be seen at Valencia or Burgos Cathedrals. Arabic books of the same period were decorated with intricate scripts with this element.
What is the interpretation of the star of David in Jewish culture? The meaning of the symbol here is associated with the shape of the shields of the wars that fought under the command of King David. There is also a version that this element came from temple lamps, under each of which was a flower - a lily. When opened, its petals just form a regular hexagon.
Some historians relate the formation of this sign with the times of the campaigns of David Alroy, who was going to a liberation campaign in the Promised Land in the twelfth century. A little later, in 1254, the first flag with a hexagram on a red background appeared, which Emperor Charles IV granted as a privilege to the Jewish community in Prague.
When did the Jewish people officially become the star of David? Its significance for identification was determined in the 19th century by the most emancipated representatives of the communities. They considered the sign to be quite widespread, personifying Jews, but not Judaism, which was important for the emerging secular Zionism. In 1897, at the congress in Basel, the symbol was approved as the main sign of the Zionist movement.
Where is the star of David present in state symbols? Photos, values, heraldic features can be viewed for the flags of some cities or countries. The most famous, of course, is the flag of Israel. But the same elements are on the coat of arms of the German city of Herbstedt, the old flag of Nigeria, the unofficial flag of Northern Ireland and the coat of arms of Italian Somalia. Moreover, some of the marginal symbols, created in an incomprehensible way, have the form of a hexagram.