A **star** is one of the most common charges in modern flag design. Stars vary in the number of their points — five, six, seven, eight and more — and in their arrangement: single, in groups, or in patterns such as the Southern Cross. Stars often symbolise a polity, a region or an ideal; the number of stars is frequently fixed by law and changes when the political composition of the bearer changes.
**Example**: The fifty stars in the canton of the United States flag stand for the fifty states, and have been added in successive revisions since 1777.
**See also**: [charge](/glossary/charge/), [crescent](/glossary/crescent/), [canton](/glossary/canton/), [field](/glossary/field/)