The Star of David is known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David. The shape of it is a hexagram which includes two equilateral triangles. The hexagram has been used as a symbol of Judaism since the 17th Century, which precedents in the 14th and 16th century in central Europe, where The Shield of David was partly used in conjunction with the Seal of Solomon on Jewish Flags. The term “Shield of David” is also used in the Siddur as the title of God of Israel. The hexagram appears occasionally in Jewish contexts as a decorative motif. For example, in Israel, there is a stone with a hexagram from the arch of the 3rd-4th century synagogue in Galilee. Originally the hexagram may have been used as an architectural ornament on synagogues, just like the ones in the cathedral of Brandenburg and Stendal and on the Marktkirche at Hanover.
The use of the hexagram in the Jewish context as a possible meaningful symbol as early as the 11th century, inside the decoration of the carpet page of the famous Tanakh manuscript, the Leningrad Context which was dated 1008. The name “Shield of David” was used as early as the 11th Century for the title of God of Israel. The phrase occurs independently as a Divine title in the Siddur, which is the traditional Jewish Prayer book; where this refers to the protection of Ancient King David and the anticipated restoration of his dynastic house. Many people have said that this could be from Psalm 18, which is attributed to David in which God is compared with a shield.
In the 17th century, the Shield of David as the hexagram began to represent the Jewish Community generally, when the Jewish quarter of Vienna was formally distinguished from the rest of the city by having a boundary stone having the Christian Cross on one side and the Star of David on the other. By the 18th Century the Star began to represent the Jewish people in both politics and religious contexts. The Star of David can be found on many religious