What's the eight pointed star insignia signify?

From the end of that strap, a silver chain hung down halfway to the belt before curving back up to end high on the left breast at a silver ring encircling an eight-pointed crimson and scarlet star pin, cardinal points enlarged, southernmost elongated, against a transverse silver bar.

If you can divulge the in-story meaning without giving anything away, that'd be great, but what's driving me bugfuck at the moment is the fact that I swear I've seen it somewhere before outside of UF. My brain keeps telling me it's something from Battletech, but I can't focus what specifically, and I'm coming up zero searching for it on the net.

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Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company