On this Wikipedia the language links are crescent roll apple cobbler the top of the page across from the article title. This exaggerated design for a crescent moon is made by removing the overlapping part of a smaller circle from a larger circle. These are the proportions on the Turkish flag. In this accurate design for a crescent moon, the tips are polar opposites on the orb of the moon.

In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his head symbolising that the lord is the master of time and is himself timeless. It is used as the astrological symbol for the Moon, and hence as the alchemical symbol for silver. The crescent symbol is primarily used to represent the Moon, not necessarily in a particular lunar phase. When used to represent a waxing or waning lunar phase, “crescent” or “increscent” refers to the waxing first quarter, while the symbol representing the waning final quarter is called “decrescent”. The crescent shape is a type of lune, the latter consisting of a circular disk with a portion of another disk removed from it, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs which intersect at two points. The tapered regions towards the points of intersection of the two arcs are known as the “horns” of the crescent. Sin from an early time, visible in Akkadian cylinder seals as early as 2300 BC.

Selene, the moon goddess, was depicted with a crescent upon her head, often referred to as her horns, and a major identifying feature of hers in ancient works of art. In the iconography of the Hellenistic period, the crescent became the symbol of Artemis-Diana, the virgin hunter goddess associated with the Moon. Numerous depictions show Artemis-Diana wearing the crescent Moon as part of her headdress. Note the crescent above the arch. The City Flag of Portsmouth, derived from the Medieval arms of Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus.

The crescent remained in use as an emblem in Sassanid Persia, used as a Zoroastrian regal or astrological symbol. Anna Notaras, daughter of the last megas doux of the Byzantine Empire Loukas Notaras, after the fall of Constantinople and her emigration to Italy, made a seal with her coat of arms which included “two lions holding above the crescent a cross or a sword”. From its use in Sassanid Persia, the crescent also found its way into Islamic iconography after the Muslim conquest of Persia. Umar is said to have hung two crescent-shaped ornaments captured from the Sassanid capital Ctesiphon in the Kaaba. The Roman Catholic fashion of depicting Madonna standing or sitting on a crescent develops in the 15th century. The goddess Diana was associated with the Moon in classical mythology. In reference to this, feminine jewelry representing crescents, especially diadems, became popular in the early modern period.