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Why do Portsmouth FC have the moon and star as their symbol?

Question #40732. Asked by stam54.
Last updated Aug 22 2016.

Senior Moments
Answer has 3 votes
Senior Moments

Answer has 3 votes.
These date back for 700 years and they are on the coat of arms of the City of Portsmouth link http://www.welcometoportsmouth.co.uk/star%20and%20cresent.html

Response last updated by CmdrK on Aug 21 2016.
Nov 04 2003, 1:20 AM
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gtho4
Answer has 7 votes
Currently Best Answer
gtho4
25 year member
2406 replies avatar

Answer has 7 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
as per Senior Moments, it seems more historical, than an actual "why":-

On May 2, 1194 King Richard I gave Portsmouth its first Royal Charter granting permission for the city to hold a fifteen day annual fair (which became known as the Free Market Fair) ... As a crescent and an eight-point star (as appear on the city coat of arms) were to be found on both the seals of King Richard and William de Longchamps it is commonly thought that this may have been the source of them, although there is no known documentary evidence for this. King Richard later went on to build a number of houses and a hall in Portsmouth.
link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth,_England

King Richard I of England adopted the star and crescent as a royal badge, from the Emperor's standard of Governor Isaac Comnenus, after capturing Cyprus. Back in England, 'a crescent of gold on a shield of azure, with a blazing star of eight points, or rays of silver, between the horns', was granted to Portsmouth as the heraldic crest of the newly incorporated Royal borough.
link http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/rel-is.html#richard

Response last updated by CmdrK on Aug 22 2016.
Nov 04 2003, 1:32 AM
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