*edited by member*

Donnchadh wrote:

Second, is he right about the Nigerian tradition of being a lost Hebrew tribe?

I have an Senegalese acquaintance from a very politically important family who very seriously stated to me that he is descended from the House of David in the male line. I would not be surprised if at least the peoples of Northern Nigeria who follow Islam make similar claims.

I did’nt find any arms only this flag :  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Nigeriaoflag.gif

it is the colonial flag of Nigeria and it has a star of david in it.

http://www.worldstatesmen.org/ng-blens.gif

found a bigger one this flag was used from 1-jan 1914 until 1 october 1960

Denny,

There is a lot out there if you just take the time to look for it.  Try these to links for starters.  I recall seeing a documentary that DNA-verified that a tribe of black South Africans were Jews, which explained their ancient history of Jewish practices and oral history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igbo_Jews

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/israel/losttribes2.html

http://www.haruth.com/JewsLembaNY.html

http://www.jewishpost.com/jp0606/jpn0606j.htm

There are also things about black Jews in Ghana as well as Nigeria—mixing of peoples and cultures along ancient trade routes.  I’ll let you find it on your on.  I have to take off right now.

This design also can bee seen in the Badge of the Cruiser HMS Nigeria who served in the Royal Navy during World War II. Sold to India in 29 August 1957 as INS Mysore and stricken 20 August 1985.

http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/2980/rn1ft0.jpg

Actualy it seems that Nigeria under Brittish rule didn’t have any arms at all just the star and crown badge.

My understanding is that Ethiopia also has such a tradition.  They claim that the lost tribe of Israel traveled to Abyssinia (Ancient Ethiopia). In fact, I believe that one of the titles of the Emperor of Ethiopia is the Lion of Juda and is considered a direct descendent of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

*edited by member*

Some relevant pics!

http://flagspot.net/images/e/et_h1.gif

Standard of the Ethiopian Emperor the late Haile Sellassie I. (obverse)

http://flagspot.net/images/e/et_h2.gif

Reverse of the aforementioned.

http://www.medals.org.uk/ethiopia/images/ethiopia029.jpg

Knights’ Badge of the Ethiopian Imperial Order of Solomon’s Seal.

http://www.medals.org.uk/ethiopia/images/ethiopia032.jpg

Grand Cross Star of the Ethiopian Imperial Most Exalted Order of the Queen of Sheba. The picture in the center is of Her Majesty Empress Zawditu, one of the late Emperor Haile Sellasie’s predecessors. Also of interest to note that the "triple" shield/circle was used by Haile Sellassie as a personal emblem representative of his reign name Haile Sellassie (power of the Trinity, compare the semetic root for three Thalath/Salas, Ethiopic languages such as Amharic being Semetic)

Ethiopian imperial history is one of my deepest interests, I studied it independently for over 2 years, as well as doing reports on Haile Sellasie.

Regards,

http://www.medals.org.uk/ethiopia/images/ethiopia021.jpg

The Ethiopian Star of Victory 1941, in which Haile Sellassie’s personal symbol is obvious on the obverse. I have lots more pics of Ethiopian imperial symbols if anyone is interested..Hey, that’s a good idea for a post! Considering there is also an Imperial Ethiopian College of Heraldry, under the patronage of, if I remember correctly, His Imperial Highness Prince Zera Yacob (of the Solomonic Dynasty).

I best get workin’ on that post!

Cheers,

MohamedHossam wrote:

Considering there is also an Imperial Ethiopian College of Heraldry, under the patronage of, if I remember correctly, His Imperial Highness Prince Zera Yacob (of the Solomonic Dynasty).

WARNING!

Imperial Ethiopian College of Heraldry is a corporation formed under Maryland state law whose proprietor is an American named Larry Slight. To the best of my knowledge, HIH Crown Prince Zere Yakob ( living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) has no connection what-so-ever with the Maryland corporation. I have been told that the members of the Imperial Family who live in the US have no ties to this corporation nor endorse its activities.

Donnchadh wrote:

I seem to recall Nicolas (sorry if I’m wrong mate) say that North African heraldry had lots of such stars until recently in their heraldry. I’ve always liked the simplicity of the Star of David and have thought it would be a most easily useable charge in heraldry…I just don’t know if it’d be appropriate for religious reasons. Anyway if Nigeria uses it and there are other nations I wonder just how many use it in one form or another in their heraldry.

The arms of the kingdom of Morocco also has this star or a they call it seal of Salomon. Many Algerian cities and towns did incorporate a star of David in their arms created during the French period denoting a Jewish population element. Some arms acctualy included a cross for the christian population a crescent for the muslim population and a star of David for the Jewish population.

Marcus K wrote:

The arms of the kingdom of Morocco also has this star or a they call it seal of Salomon.

There was at one time a six pointed star called the Seal of Solomon used on the Moroccan arms and flag that was changed almost one hundred years ago to a five pointed star or interlaced pentagram. I believe that this five pointed star is incorrectly termed a Seal of Solomon by present day Moroccans.

Kelisli wrote:

My understanding is that Ethiopia also has such a tradition.  They claim that the lost tribe of Israel traveled to Abyssinia (Ancient Ethiopia). In fact, I believe that one of the titles of the Emperor of Ethiopia is the Lion of Juda and is considered a direct descendent of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Correct.  My mother was there when it was still an empire.

Indeed, in countries that had the influence of the Islamic civilization, the current Star of David was the Seal of Solomon as witnessed here in the standard of the Ottoman Admiral of the Fleet, Hayerttin Barbarossa Pasha (1536 - 1546)

You can see the Seal of Solomon towards the fly between the blades of Zulfikar (sword of Ali).  You can also see the hand of Fatima near the hilt of the sword and surrounded by four crescents encircling the names of the first four Caliphs.  I think this standard or flag may have been hanged vertically, but maybe Joe can correct me.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t11/Kelisli/Barbaros_Hayrettin_Pasa_Sancagi_153.jpg

The Seal of Solomon was a common motif in Islamic decorative art. It was also common in Mameluke heraldry and a commonly used symbol in the Ottoman Empire, not just in northern Africa.