Hexagram facts for kids

a hexagram

A hexagram is a six-pointed star, with all lines the same length and all angles the same. A 'hexangle', 'star hexagon', or 'hexalpha' means the same thing. It is used in historical, religious and cultural contexts, for example in Hanafism, Judaism, Hinduism and occultism. It is possible that this simple geometric shape, like the triangle, circle, or square, has been created by various peoples with no connection to one another.

Group theory

In mathematics, the root system for the simple Lie group G₂ is in the form of a hexagram, with six long roots and six short roots.

Construction by compass and a straight edge

A six-pointed star, like a regular hexagon, can be created using a compass and a straight edge:

• Make a circle of any size with the compass.
• Without changing the radius of the compass, set its pivot on the circle's circumference, and find one of the two points where a new circle would intersect the first circle.
• With the pivot on the last point found, similarly find a third point on the circumference, and repeat until six such points have been marked.
• With a straight edge, join alternate points on the circumference to form two overlapping equilateral triangles.

Images for kids

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  A regular hexagram, {6}[2{3}]{6}, can be seen as a compound composed of an upwards (blue here) and downwards (pink) facing equilateral triangle, with their intersection as a regular hexagon (in green).

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  Star of David on the Salt Lake Assembly Hall

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  The Star of David in the oldest surviving complete copy of the Masoretic text, the Leningrad Codex, dated 1008.

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  Diagram showing the two mystic syllables Om and Hrim

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  Double hexagram

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  Aerial photograph of Heathrow Airport, London, 1955

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  Worthing railway station platform 2 canopy

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  Coin minted in the Emirate of Sicily during the reign of Al-Mustansir Billah (11th century CE)

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  1204 coin minted in Aleppo by Az-Zahir Ghazi

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  Hexagram at Humayun's Tomb, Delhi, India (late 16th century)

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  Hexagram on obverse of Moroccan 4 Falus coin (1873)

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  Hexagram on the Minaret of Arasta Mosque, Prizren, Kosovo

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  Morocco Fez Embroidery Horse Cover

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  The Gates from the tomb of Mahmud of Ghazni, taken to the Somnath temple

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  A Chinese Muslim cotton banner with Arabic calligraphy with hexagrams; (dated to the late 18th or the 19th century)

See also

In Spanish: Hexagrama para niños