U+2721, ✡
STAR OF DAVID

[U+2720]
Dingbats
[U+2722]

Translingual

Description

A hexagram (six-pointed star formed by overlapping two equilateral triangles).

Etymology

The precise origin of the use of it as a Jewish symbol remains unknown, but it apparently emerged in the context of medieval Jewish protective amulets (segulot). The Jewish Encyclopedia cites a 12th-century Karaite document as the earliest Jewish literary source to mention the symbol.[1]

Symbol

  1. Judaism or Jewish identity.

Usage notes

This shape is generically called a hexagram (and has a wider array of definitions), but this specific symbol has been labelled by Unicode for use as the Star of David.

References

  1. "Magen Dawid", Jewish Encyclopida , retrieved 2010 May 28.
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