The nautical star is a symbolic star representing the

North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...

, associated with the sea services of the

United States armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

and with

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

culture. It is usually rendered as a

five-pointed star A five-pointed star (☆), geometrically an equilateral concave decagon, is a common ideogram in modern culture. Comparatively rare in classical heraldry, it was notably introduced for the flag of the United States in the Flag Act of 1777 and ...

in dark and light shades counterchanged in a style similar to a

compass rose A compass rose, sometimes called a wind rose, rose of the winds or compass star, is a figure on a compass, map, nautical chart, or monument used to display the orientation of the cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) and their int ...

. In

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology Technical standard, standard for the consistent character encoding, encoding, representation, and handling of Character (computing), text expre ...

, this symbol is in the dingbats block as , referencing a pinwheel toy.

Nautical charts

Modern

nautical charts A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land (topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the coa ...

use the star to indicate

true north True north (also called geodetic north or geographic north) is the direction along Earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole or True North Pole. Geodetic north differs from ''magnetic'' north (the direction a compass points toward the ...

on the outer of the two compass circles of a compass rose, symbolizing the North Star. The

US Coast and Geodetic Survey The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications ...

started using this symbol in its double-circle compass roses around 1900.

Use as a symbol

Sea services

The nautical star is an informal

signifier In semiotics, signified and signifier ( French: ''signifié'' and ''signifiant'') stand for the two main components of a sign, where ''signified'' pertains to the "plane of content", while ''signifier'' is the "plane of expression". The idea was ...

indicating membership in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, or

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

. The symbol recalls both the five-pointed star of the US national flag and the color pattern of the compass rose found on many nautical charts. Insignia including nautical stars: *

United States Coast Guard officer rank insignia United States Coast Guard officer rank insignia describes an officer's pay-grade. Rank is displayed on collar devices, shoulder boards, and on the sleeves of dress uniforms. Commissioned officer ranks Commissioned officers in the Coast Guard are ...

* German Navy officer rank insignia

Ships

The ''Endurance'', in which

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

and crew sailed on the 1914–1917

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing ...

, was originally named after the pole star and retained a large badge in the shape of a five-pointed star on her stern.

Other

The nautical star is common in insignia, flags, and logos. Examples: *

Sixpoint Brewery Sixpoint Brewery is a brewery founded 2004, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York, USA. The Sixpoint logo is a combination of the brewer's hexagram and the nautical star. The company's motto is Beer is Culture, a play on the cultural significance of ...

Red Hook, Brooklyn Red Hook is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, New York, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. It is located on a peninsula projecting into the Upper New York Bay and is bounded by the Gowanus Expressway and the Car ...

, uses a six-pointed version of the star in its logo to reflect the neighborhood's maritime history. *

Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps The Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps is a World Class competitive junior Drum and bugle corps (modern), drum and bugle corps. Based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the Blue Stars was one of the thirteen founding member corps of Drum Corps International. ...

The

California flag California Flag is a thoroughbred racehorse, foaled at Hi Card Ranch on February 19, 2004. He is sired by Avenue of Flags, a son of Seattle Slew, out of the Afleet (a son of Mr. Prospector) mare Ultrafleet. He is best known for setting a new t ...

includes a red five-pointed star, which is sometimes stylized like a nautical star: * Called the NorCal Star, it is sometimes used to represent

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

on clothing and tattoos. *

Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, the ...

, a

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

soccer team, uses a red nautical star in its crest.

Tattoo culture

This symbol is part of the tradition of

sailor tattoos Sailor tattoos are traditions of tattooing among sailors, including images with symbolic meanings. These practices date back to at least the 16th century among European sailors, and since colonial times among American sailors. People participatin ...

. A nautical star represented the

, with the idea that this symbol would help a sailor navigate or stay on course, including finding their way back to port or back home. A nautical star tattoo can also indicate that a person has crossed the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. Since the 1990s, nautical star tattoos have become popular in the United States in general. A nautical star may symbolize protection, guidance, and good luck, or metaphorically represent finding one's way home when lost in life or travel. In the 1950s, some

lesbians A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with fem ...

wore a blue five-pointed star tattoo on the wrist, a location that could be covered by a watch. People getting tattoos to reflect this history may choose a nautical-style star.

References

{{Tattoo Star symbols Tattoo designs Polaris