A five-pointed star circumscribed by a circle, also known as a pentagram or pentangle. Originally rooted in Celtic tradition, it represented peace and protection, similar in symbolic use to the Christian symbol of the cross (but predating it by a margin of hundreds of years). Much like the symbol of the Iron Cross (aka Swastika), which was for a time used by Christians to identify one another during periods of persecution, the pentacle has in recent history been maligned.