Basque Nationalist Action Lauburu

Photo of a green six-pointed star surrounding a white Lauburu is courtesy of "erikrasmussen" who shot it in Mondragon in Gipuzkoa province, Basque Country, Spain, and published it on Flickr. Erikrasmussen wrote on his blog that the Lauburu is a swastika but according to Wikipedia Lauburu is the Basque Cross which has four arms, shaped like a comma.

Accompanying Symbols

Stars of David on a wine label from the Tunisian island of Djerba card is courtesy of

Stephanie Comfort who published it on Flickr. Stephanie is one of the main contributors to this blog, and I bless the day I met her.

Lions frequently appear alongside the Star of David in Jewish, Christian, Pagan and in Ethiopian context, but I don’t remember seeing it in a Moslem or in a Buddhist context. Accompanying symbols may help decide to what religion a certain artifact belongs.

- Bacchus Temple frieze in Baal beck, Lebanon, is decorated with lions and bulls.

- Arthur Szyk created the Jewish Daily News emblem showing a Star of David with lion along with the Tables of the Covenant.

- David Ben Guryon suggested that the symbol of the Israeli state would be two lions holding the Tables of the covenant, just like here.

- The lions are seen as serving the King of all Kings.

- Both the tribes of Dan and Judah are compared to lions.

- Dalia Manor wrote that the aspirations of the founders of Bezalel School of art were to create "the original Hebrew style" and for that purpose they used recurrent Jewish symbols such as the Menorah, the Star of David, the Tablets of the Law, the Ark of the Covenant and lions.

- Tobias Foa, in 1556, printed a book with woodcut printer’s mark containing two rampant lions flanking a palm tree in whose center there is a Star of David.

Austin, Texas

Picture of six-pointed star on an arched window at the Capitol Visitors Center in Austin, Texas is courtesy of "joediev" from Flickr. The building is from
1858 and it is the oldest surviving state office building in Texas.

Moorish, Not Jewish

Six pointed star tiles in Seville, Spain, is courtesy of "o'cohen" who published it on Flickr and wrote there:

As far as I know the style of these tiles is Moorish not Jewish…

Mostar, Bosnia-2

Six pointed star in Bosnia is courtesy of "cvritenour" from Flickr. Six pointed stars are abundant in Bosnia. 

Mostar, Bosnia-1

Photo of Six pointed star in Bosnia is courtesy of "cvritenour" from Flickr who wrote in the caption:

Ironically, the Star of David is considered a symbol of free religion in Bosnia. Perhaps because it is neither Islam or Christian, but it was carved all over the House

There are 10 white Six pointed stars on white background on the flag of Federacija Bosne i Hercegovine, which represent the 10 regions of the Federation.

Instant Identifier

Yair Vardi drew this blunt caricature, that accuses the Israeli society and government of neglecting helpless Holocaust survivors.

Translation from Hebrew caption: In Israel there are about 260000 Holocaust survivors, third of them live in poverty.

The Yellow Badge is used here as an instant identifier of Holocaust survivors, and that’s why I publish it here.

Copyright © Yair Vardi 2008