Star and Crescent (GOLD) Mug

The star and crescent symbol only became associated with Islam in the mid-20th century, in the national flags of various successor states of the Ottoman Empire. By the 1970s, this symbolism was embraced by movements of Arab nationalism or Islamism, such as the proposed Arab Islamic Republic (1974) and the American Nation of Islam (1973). The "Red Crescent" emblem was adopted by volunteers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as early as 1877 during the Russo-Turkish War; it was officially adopted in 1929.