Star of Ishtar

[3] During later times, slaves who worked in Ishtar's temples were sometimes branded with the seal of the eight-pointed star.

[3] On boundary stones and cylinder seals, the eight-pointed star is sometimes shown alongside the crescent moon, which was the symbol of Sin, god of the Moon, and the rayed solar disk, which was a symbol of Shamash, the god of the Sun.

[5] During the Neo-Assyrian Period, the rosette may have actually eclipsed the eight-pointed star and become Ishtar's primary symbol.

The stars of Ishtar and Shamash featured on the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Iraq from 1932 to 1959.

A simplified version with red rays and a yellow centre was incorporated into the flag of Iraq from 1959 to 1963.