View source for Astral crown

{{Short description|Heraldic crown made up of wings and stars}}
{{More footnotes|date=December 2018}}
[[File:Astral Crown.svg|thumb|right|An astral crown]] 
The '''astral crown''' is a gold [[Crown (headgear)|crown]] surmounted with eight low points. The centrals and laterals points are topped with a star, with an unspecified number of points, between two wings.

In [[heraldry]], an astral crown is mounted atop the shields of coats of arms of units belonging to some [[Air Force|air forces]] or the personal arms of its distinguished commanders.

Its creation became necessary after the founding of the [[Royal Air Force]] in the UK, because there was no Roman military award device for aerial warfare equivalent to the [[naval crown]] for navies and the [[camp crown]] for armies.

Some air forces in other countries have adopted variants of the astral crown.

==Gallery==
<gallery perrow="5">
File:Coat of arms of the Chilean Air Force.svg|An astral crown in the coat of arms of the [[Chilean Air Force]]
File:2070 (Glenfield) ATC Squadron Crest.png|Emblem of No 2070 (Glenfield) Squadron [[Air Training Corps]].
File:Brasao ba1.png|The [[Portuguese Air Force]] variant of the astral crown in the coat of arms of the [[Sintra Air Base]]
File:Armorial Bearings of British Airways.svg|An astral crown in the coat of arms of [[British Airways]]
File:Coat of Arms of Cranfield University.svg|An astral crown in [[Crest (heraldry)|crest]] in the coat of arms of [[Cranfield University]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{commons category|Astral crowns}}
*[[Crown (heraldry)]]
*[[Camp crown]]
*[[Celestial crown]]
*[[Mural crown]]
*[[Naval crown]]
*[[Heraldry]]
*[[Military aviation]]

==References==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131217030352/http://www.americanheraldry.org/pages/index.php?n=Primer.Page4 ''Heraldic Headgear, American Heraldry Society''].
*[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/astral%20crown ''Astral Crown definition'']. ''Merrian Webster''.
*Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1909) [http://www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~bprince/hr/foxdavies/fdguide23.htm A ''Complete Guide to Heraldry''], ''Chapter XXIII: Crest, Coronets and Chapeaux''.

{{Types of Crowns}}

[[Category:Crowns (headgear)|Astral]]
[[Category:Crowns in heraldry]]
[[Category:Military heraldry]]
[[Category:Military aviation]]


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