Brunswick star

{{Short description|Heraldic emblem}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

File:Flag of Metropolitan Police.svg flag]]

The Brunswick star is an emblem which in outline is an eight-pointed or sixteen-pointed star, but which is composed of many narrow rays. It is used in the United Kingdom to surround the royal cypher on various badges, such as that worn on the caps and helmets of almost all police and fire services in England and Wales. The name Brunswick refers to the German Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, better known as the principality of Hanover, which was ruled by the House of Hanover whose heads also became kings of Great Britain and Ireland.

The first Brunswick star as heraldic emblem was probably that of the Order of Saint Patrick, installed by king George I. Supposedly the shape is based on the representation of the clearest star of the Southern Hemisphere, Achernar in the constellation of Eridanus as depicted in the Uranometria.