Why do a lot of swords (or all of them) have the star of David where the blade begins?
I have seen a few answers for this, which I will try to summarize here. For those unfamiliar with this symbol, here is one on a sword made by Pillin in the 1860s:
The star is not meant to be a Star of David. Robert Wilkinson-Latham (formerly of Wilkinson Sword) says that the star is really two interlocking triangles which are meant to symbolize strength. Another suggestion is that it is a “Star of Damascus”, which seems to be the popular answer regarding the symbol on US swords. This “Star of Damascus” is supposedly meant to indicate high quality steel as in “Damascus Steel”.
I’m not sure that either of these answers are correct. The symbol, especially when paired with the brass proof disc, is similar to some found on Middle Eastern and Indian sword blades. Here is an example from the Instagram of the Calderwood Curatorial Fellow of South Asian Art at Harvard Art Museums, Rachel Parikh:
Dr. Parikh describes it thus;
Detail from an Ottoman saber. Inside the hexagram it says, in Arabic, “As God wills”. The hexagram most likely refers to the Seal of Solomon. According to Islamic legend, Solomon, renowned for his wisdom, received the Seal directly from God in the form of a signet ring. The ring not only protected Solomon, but also gave him divine powers, such as the ability to communicate with animals. The divinely-designed symbol became a popular apotropaic motif throughout the Islamic world.
The use of the star and proof disc originated with Henry Wilkinson, and was soon copied by most other sword makers in Britain. Henry Wilkinson and his protege, John Latham were both keen on historical swords and no doubt would have been exposed to quality Eastern swords like the one above. They may have been trying to allude to the quality of Eastern blades by adopting and adapting their symbolism.
The proof disc in the center of the star on British swords indicated that the sword had passed a proof test and would therefore be fit for the rigours of battle. At least that was the practice at Wilkinson and other quality makers. But not every maker was so scrupulous, and no doubt many swords were decorated with proof discs to give the appearance of quality where there was none.