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The astral crown is a gold crown surmounted with eight low points. The centrals and laterals points are topped with a star, with an unspecified number of points, between two wings.
In heraldry, an astral crown is mounted atop the shields of coats of arms of units belonging to some air forces or the personal arms of its distinguished commanders.
Its creation became necessary after the founding of the Royal Air Force in the UK, because there was no Roman military award device for aerial warfare equivalent to the naval crown for navies and the camp crown for armies.
Some air forces in other countries have adopted variants of the astral crown.