Some symbols change their meaning without changing their form. The Star of David is a striking example. In less than 150 years, the six-pointed star has gone from a symbol with no widely recognized Jewish significance to an unmistakably Jewish emblem; from a mark affixed to Jewish clothing to identify, segregate, and humiliate Jews, to the symbol of a sovereign state; and, in recent years, at least in the eyes of many in the West, to a symbol associated with violent and aggressive nationalism. The history of the Star of David thus tells, in many ways, the story of Zionism itself: the distance between the original Zionist vision of a Jewish society that would be exemplary, egalitarian, and liberal, and a state increasingly perceived as a force of violence and oppression.

The flag Theodor Herzl envisioned for the state he dreamed of was different from the one ultimately adopted. Herzl did not seek to create a state that would be synonymous with Judaism, and certainly did not intend to make Judaism the state religion. On the contrary, he sought to create a political framework that would enable Jews to live as free and equal human beings. In his novel Altneuland, Herzl portrayed the Jewish state as progressive, liberal, and tolerant – a society in which Jews and non-Jews would live together, religion would not dictate the political order, and technological progress would coexist with social responsibility. The flag he proposed reflected this vision. Herzl envisioned a white flag bearing seven golden stars. White was meant to symbolize the moral purity of the new society, while the seven stars represented egalitarian social values.

After Herzl’s death, a different proposal for the Zionist flag took shape. David Wolffsohn designed the blue-and-white flag, inspired by the Jewish prayer shawl, and placed the Star of David at its center. When the Zionist flag was adopted as the flag of the State........

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