Nautical Star
Posted: 11-Feb-09The Nautical Star first originated originated with sailors as they were a very superstitious hardy bunch of men that would get symbolic designs to provide them with a safe journey and good luck during their long trips at sea. Anyone who has a basic understanding of navigating by stars knows that the north star is the most important star of all. It is the first star that a sailor would find in order to orient themselves and get their bearing. Therefore the north star is of utmost importance to the sailor who is using star navigation while at sea. Thus the north star became a symbolic of a safe journey and a quick and safe return trip home. Once you know where the north star is a sailor worth his salt can navigate the boat homeward or at least towards land. But what does the color of the nautical star mean? Some say that vessels at sea have "rules to the road". Green is go, red is stop. The port (left) side of a vessel shines a red light off the starboard beam indicating he has the right of way to all vessels to the right of his course. Because they see a red light, they must "stop" or yield to his right of way and vise-versa your ship must yield to all vessels to the left of its course, because the starboard beam(right) light is shining green, indicating to other ships they have the right to go ahead. Left is Red, Right is Green. However there are some historians that believe that it very well could be that the color of the stars were also symbolic of achieving certain goals such as crossing the Pacific Ocean twice or etc. Most of the meaning behind such color choices and what it represent have long been obscured and lost in the lore of history. What is only clear today though is that the nautical star was first used by sailors as a good luck symbol.
