The Guñelve (), sometimes known as the Star of Arauco, is a symbol from

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

iconography which can be described as an

octagram In geometry, an octagram is an eight-angled star polygon. The name ''octagram'' combine a Greek numeral prefix, ''wikt:octa-, octa-'', with the Greek language, Greek suffix ''wikt:-gram, -gram''. The ''-gram'' suffix derives from γραμμή ...

(or a star with eight points) in

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a Heraldry, heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French , Medieval Latin ("stirrup"). From its use as field sign, the saltire cam ...

. It represents the planet

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, but has also erroneously been thought to represent the canelo tree, which is considered sacred among the Mapuches. The guñelve was the inspiration of

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; 20 August 1778 – 24 October 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque people, Basque-Spanish people, Spani ...

to create the current

flag of Chile The flag of Chile consists of two equal-height horizontal bands of white and red, with a blue square the same height as the white band in the canton (flag), canton, which bears a white five-pointed star in its center. It was adopted on 18 Octo ...

. In recent times the guñelve has been used by some designers in Chile, such as during the 2015 Copa América in Chile, when it was used as the symbol of the cup. El joven Lautaro - P

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunelve Mapuche culture Star symbols

See also

References