What a pentagram is
A pentagram ⛤ is a five-pointed star drawn with five straight lines in one continuous stroke. In a regular pentagram, every crossing divides the lines in the golden ratio φ, which fascinated ancient Greek mathematicians (see the phi symbol). A pentagram inside a circle is usually called a pentacle.
Unicode has four versions: the plain ⛤, two interlaced ⛥ ⛦ where the lines weave over and under each other, and the inverted ⛧ with one point down.
History and meaning
The pentagram is very old and has meant different things to different groups. The Pythagoreans of ancient Greece used it as an emblem associated with health. Medieval Christians linked its five points to the five wounds of Christ, and in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight it decorates Gawain's shield as a sign of his virtues.
In Wicca and many modern pagan paths, the upright pentacle is a symbol of faith, often linked to the four elements plus spirit. The inverted pentagram ⛧ is used in some forms of Satanism, notably in the Church of Satan's sigil, and in horror and heavy metal imagery.
Five-pointed stars also appear on many national flags, such as those of the United States and China, and a green interlaced pentagram sits on the flag of Morocco. In the Baháʼí Faith, a five-pointed star is the official symbol of the religion.
Pentagram vs Star of David and how to type ⛤
Don't confuse a pentagram with the hexagram ✡︎, the six-pointed Star of David, which is a symbol of Judaism and appears on the flag of Israel. ✡️ is its emoji form, and 🔯 is a separate dotted six-pointed star.
In Microsoft Word, type 26E4 and press Alt + X. In HTML, use ⛤. On a Mac, open the Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space and search "pentagram". For other star shapes, see the star symbol page; for spooky themes, try witch symbols.