It's speculated that the symbol in question was the personal ensign of the then Byzantine doux and self-proclaimed Byzantine emperor Isaakios Komnenos. When Richard the Lionheart took over the island on his way to the 3rd Crusade, he allegedly rewarded the city of Portsmouth (that provided many of the ships and sailors of the campaign) with Isaakios' symbol. This explanation is somewhat disputed though, it was just generally common for western Europeans to take up such "oriental" symbols on their way back from the Crusades.
That's unrelated to this case. Crescents were already common for Turkic battle standards, albeit there is an argument to be made about other Byzantine (not Cypriot) symbols having an influence too.
The crecent and star was the symbol of the ancient city of Byzantium before the 1st century BC. The Turks adopted it when they conquered Constantinople, and it became associated with Islam while the Turkish Sultan was also Calif
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u/Rhomaios Oct 29 '24
It's speculated that the symbol in question was the personal ensign of the then Byzantine doux and self-proclaimed Byzantine emperor Isaakios Komnenos. When Richard the Lionheart took over the island on his way to the 3rd Crusade, he allegedly rewarded the city of Portsmouth (that provided many of the ships and sailors of the campaign) with Isaakios' symbol. This explanation is somewhat disputed though, it was just generally common for western Europeans to take up such "oriental" symbols on their way back from the Crusades.