page_title: Star of David
section_title: As a symbol of Judaism and the Jewish community
hierarchical_section_title: Star of David / History of Jewish usage / As a symbol of Judaism and the Jewish community
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Skizze von Herzls Vorschlag für die Flagge der zionistischen Bewegung Hier mein Entwürf unserer Fahne. weisses Feld sieben goldene Sterne English: Sketch of Herzl's proposal for the flag of the Zionist movement. Found at [1] Herewith my design for our flag white field seven golden stars
context_page_description: The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David, is a generally recognized symbol of modern Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles.
  The identification of the term "Star of David" or "Shield of David" with the hexagram shape dates to the 17th century. The term "Shield of David" is also used in the Siddur as a title of the God of Israel.
  Unlike the menorah, the Lion of Judah, the shofar and the lulav, the Star of David was never a uniquely Jewish symbol.
  The hexagram, being an inherently simple geometric construction, has been used in various motifs throughout human history, which were not exclusively religious. The symbol was also used in Christian churches as a decorative motif many centuries before its first known use in a Jewish synagogue.
  The earliest Jewish usage of the symbol was inherited from medieval Arabic literature by Kabbalists for use in talismanic protective amulets where it was known as the Seal of Solomon among Muslims.
context_section_description: The symbol became representative of the worldwide Zionist community, and later the broader Jewish community, after it was chosen to represent the First Zionist Congress in 1897.
  A year before the congress, Herzl had written in his 1896 Der Judenstaat:
  
  We have no flag, and we need one. If we desire to lead many men, we must raise a symbol above their heads. I would suggest a white flag, with seven golden stars. The white field symbolizes our pure new life; the stars are the seven golden hours of our working-day. For we shall march into the Promised Land carrying the badge of honor.
  David Wolffsohn (1856–1914), a businessman prominent in the early Zionist movement, was aware that the nascent Zionist movement had no official flag, and that the design proposed by Theodor Herzl was gaining no significant support, wrote:
  
  At the behest of our leader Herzl, I came to Basle to make preparations for the Zionist Congress. Among many other problems that occupied me then was one that contained something of the essence of the Jewish problem. What flag would we hang in the Congress Hall? Then an idea struck me. We have a flag—and it is blue and white. The talith (prayer shawl) with which we wrap ourselves when we pray: that is our symbol. Let us take this Talith from its bag and unroll it before the eyes of Israel and the eyes of all nations. So I ordered a blue and white flag with the Shield of David painted upon it. That is how the national flag, that flew over Congress Hall, came into being.
  In the early 20th century, the symbol began to be used to express Jewish affiliations in sports.
  Hakoah Vienna was a Jewish sports club founded in Vienna, Austria, in 1909 whose teams competed with the Star of David on the chest of their uniforms, and won the 1925 Austrian League soccer championship. Similarly, The Philadelphia Sphas basketball team in Philadelphia (whose name was an acronym of its founding South Philadelphia Hebrew Association) wore a large Star of David on their jerseys to proudly proclaim their Jewish identity, as they competed in the first half of the 20th century.
  In boxing, Benny "the Ghetto Wizard" Leonard (who said he felt as though he was fighting for all Jews) fought with a Star of David embroidered on his trunks in the 1910s.
  World heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer fought with a Star of David on his trunks as well, notably, for the first time as he knocked out Nazi Germany hero Max Schmeling in 1933; Hitler never permitted Schmeling to fight a Jew again.
caption: Herzl's proposed flag, as sketched in his diaries. Although he drew a Star of David, he did not describe it as such
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