# 1931 Dracula- Is He wearing a Star of David around his neck or WHAT?? Eve, c'mere ! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851 "2002-04-21T20:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/21 "2002-04-22T12:35:12Z")
Gahhh… I was sure this question had come up before, but a search yields nothing. Perhaps I saw it somewhere else. Or I’m using the wrong search terms. Or I imagined the whole thing in a drug-induced haze… Anyway. AFAIK, Dracula’s medallion is an Eastern European order of nobility, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. It’s star-shaped because that looks impressive in a medallion. It’s got nothing to do with the Star of David… … awww, who am I kidding? Of course Dracula’s Jewish. And all mathematicians are Christians, too, look how they keep using + signs everywhere… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/22 "2002-04-22T13:42:30Z")
"By the time I locate it and gather up the answer, that damn Eve will be in here being the hero again. " —Not this time, I’m stumped. Though my grandfather was born in Transylvania, and I hear Dracula’s real name was “Dracustein” before they changed it . . . ---
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/23 "2002-04-22T13:56:51Z")
Minor hi-jack. In the 70’s UK’s children’s programme ‘Chorlton and the Wheelies’, the mega bad evil witch character had a book of spells with a six-pointed star of David on the cover. This caused lots of furore at the time about the programme being some kind of anti-Semitic parable, etc. In fact (at least according to the programme animators) the guy who made the book didn’t know how to draw a five-pointed star so approximated. So maybe the Dracula designers meant to do a pentacle but gave up cos it was too hard. ---
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/24 "2002-04-22T14:57:01Z")
Tch, should be 70s’, no? And the rest. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/25 "2002-04-22T15:08:31Z")
I’m reminded of a line from Roman Polanski’s **The Fearless Vampire Killers** , when a lovely blonde tries to thwart an evil bloodsucker with a cross, he chuckles and in a thick _shtetl_ accent says, “Oy, have you got the wrong vampire!” Dracula is definitely a Gentile, and the decoration is not a _Magen David_, but a pentagram, indicating his occult nature. (I have the DVD, and I looked.) ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de053/32.png) [@Umbriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/26 "2002-04-22T17:15:14Z")
A few scattered thoughts: 1. The _Magen David_ has a fair claim to “occult symbol” status, due to its associations with the Kabbalistic tradition, as well as with King Solomon (from whom the demon-summoning and control tradition of western occultism has claimed descent for centuries). 2. While I think there is something to the idea of a racial/sexual xenophobic tradition regarding Dracula, and vampires in general, I doubt that Browning had any symbolic agenda regarding the medal, given its reported absence from the Spanish language version. If the two versions had different propmasters, on the other hand, it’s possible that he had some sort of joke or statement in mind. 3. Another possibility, given the medal’s absence from the Spanish version, is that it belonged to Lugosi himself, and was something he had previously worn in stage performances to signify the count’s noble rank. Any pictures or anecdotes to confirm or refute this? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/27 "2002-04-22T17:21:30Z")
[I thought I had heard this mentioned before somewhere…](http://www.narangkar.com/pete/chocula.html) ---
**Author:** ![ScriptAnalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@ScriptAnalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScriptAnalyst)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/28 "2002-04-22T21:43:22Z")
I’m looking at a publicity still of Lugosi in his costume for the movie, and the medalion doesn’t look like a Star of David at all, or at least it doesn’t look like a star. At its center is a circle, surrounded by lines radiating outwards, suggesting the rays of the sun. (Okay, I know the sun is really just a star we see relatively up close, but you get the idea.) At regular intervals around the cirlce, the lines are longer, perhaps suggesting the points of a star, but this is not the sharp triangular look one associates with a pentagram or hexagram. Some commentators, including David Skal, have tried to read anti-semitic undertones into the literary Count Dracula, but I’ve never found the argument convincing. As for the film version, the medalion is supposed to suggest some kind of chivalric order, emphasizing the character’s nobility, which hides his evil vampire nature beneath a deceptive facade. steve biodrowski [www.thescriptanalyst.com](http://www.thescriptanalyst.com) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/29 "2002-04-23T00:32:47Z")
I think that perhaps **ScriptAnalyst** has the right idea. Anyone who is truly interested in going further into the Orders and Decorations which existed in Europe and Asia in bygone years could go to a Borders or Barnes and Nobles and look for a book picturing such stuff. Probably in Hobbies/Collecting or some such. These “radiant star” orders were usually give for distinguished service, incredible bravery, etc. I’m sure that an imitation of such was what Lugosi was wearing. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/30 "2002-04-23T01:53:57Z")
Could it be a Dodge Bros. hood ornament? If this is not a lame joke, I don’t know what is. I’m not trying to be a :wally but it’s just happening. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/31 "2002-04-23T03:02:01Z")
Dangit, Cal, you beat me to the armadillos. What was Browning thinking? I can see why Renfield went nuts–I mean, you expect to find spiders and bats and rats and vampires in a crumbling Transylvanian castle–but armadillos? ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/32 "2002-04-23T19:12:41Z")
> [@](#): > > It does, indeed, appear to be a six-pointed star. But that’s not exclusively a “STar of David”, and doesn’t imply he’s Jewish. If it were, all those sheriffs in the Wild West should’ve been wearing yarmulkes. (And how did Melrooks miss that opportunity in Blazing Saddles?) [really anal nit-pick]Actually, most old west sheriffs wore [five pointed stars](http://cowboyoutfitters.com/badges.html), often inscribed within a circle; six pointed stars were reserved for marshals (This is one of those things that drives me nuts when they get it wrong in movies, and when moviemakers seem to think that a sheriff is the same thing as a town constable or city marshal).[/really anal nit-pick] Many modern Sheriff’s Departments use seven pointed stars, I suppose to avoid any associations with pentagrams/pentacles and Stars of David. Metro police usually wear a sheild. ---
**Author:** ![sneakylemur](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sneakylemur/32/19139_2.png) [@sneakylemur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sneakylemur)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/33 "2025-05-09T08:02:48Z")
I think this might be what Dracula was wearing > **[Universal Monsters - The Medallion of Dracula Limited Edition Prop Replica](https://factoryent.com/products/universal-monsters-the-medallion-of-dracula-limited-edition-prop-replica)** > > The medallion that was an essential part of the costume in Universal’s classic 1931 production Dracula. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/34 "2025-05-09T10:02:25Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > I’m reminded of a line from Roman Polanski’s **The Fearless Vampire Killers** , when a lovely blonde tries to thwart an evil bloodsucker with a cross, he chuckles and in a thick _shtetl_ accent says, “Oy, have you got the wrong vampire!” I’m also reminded of _Love at First Bite,_ where Van Helsing tried waving a Star of David at Dracula. > _Dracula, after flinching and a double take:_ “No, it is the other one.” > > _Van Helsing:_ “…What, really?” (Yes, I know this is an old thread) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/35 "2025-05-09T11:43:54Z")
Stars, both five and six sided, in occult situations are seals of Solomon or derived from that tradition. They are used to protect from evil spirits, demons, djinn, etc. For example, the pentagram one summons a demon into, and the symbol on the stopper of the djinni’s bottle. > **[Seal of Solomon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_of_Solomon)** > > The Seal of Solomon or Ring of Solomon (Hebrew: חותם שלמה, Ḥotam Shlomo; Arabic: خاتم سليمان, Khātam Sulaymān) is the legendary signet ring attributed to king Solomon in medieval mystical traditions, from which it developed in parallel within Jewish mysticism, Islamic mysticism and Western occultism. > It is often depicted in the shape of either a pentagram or a hexagram. In mystic Islamic and Jewish lore, the ring is variously described as having given Solomon the power to command the supernatura... ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/36 "2025-05-09T12:03:03Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > It appears that our dear Count Dracula is wearing a large pendant in the shape of a Star of David. I think that would actually be okay, though kind of weird, because it is Christ/Christianity/the cross to which he is “allergic”, so to speak. Orthodox Judaism doesn’t accept the concept of Christ as savior. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/37 "2025-05-09T12:40:45Z")
This just looks like a medallion to me. Perhaps Dracula is a Marshall. [![](https://cdn.theasc.com/Dracula-%E2%80%93-1931-Harker.jpg) ](https://cdn.theasc.com/Dracula-%E2%80%93-1931-Harker.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/38 "2025-05-09T12:48:44Z")
Hey, @sneakylemur, where have you been for the last 23 years? You’re late! Anyway, welcome to the boards. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/39 "2025-05-09T13:41:46Z")
Dracula went to the Scholomance and knows all about magic amulets and seals and demons and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851/40 "2025-05-09T14:04:06Z")
The real question is how do his clothes look so nice after laying in a box of dirt for 400 years? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1931-dracula-is-he-wearing-a-star-of-david-around-his-neck-or-what-eve-cmere/104851.md?page=3)