The Moorish American movement is a collection of independent organizations and individuals who emerged in the early 20th century as an offshoot of the Moorish Science Temple of America, founded by Noble Drew Ali. The movement is based on the belief that African Americans are descendants of the Moabites and thus are "Moorish". Members of the Moorish American movement are known as "Moorish-American Moslems" and are called "Moorish Scientists" in some circles. However, the Moorish American movement has also given rise to a subgroup known as Moorish sovereign citizens, who espouse an antigovernment doctrine in which its members claim to be part of a sovereign nation. Moorish sovereign citizens believe that they are not bound by U.S. laws and regulations and claim immunity from them. They cite a fictitious 1787 treaty between the United States and Morocco to claim that Moors in the US have sovereign status. Moorish sovereign citizens often display an emblem that consists of a scarlet red rectangular banner or flag with a five-pointed green star located just left of center. They also refer to themselves with a series of Africanized names that incorporate the words “bey” or “el,” or a combination of the two. The Moorish sovereign citizen movement draws from the religious teachings of the Moorish Science Temple of America, founded in 1913 by Timothy Drew, who was later known as Noble Drew Ali. The Moorish sovereign movement began to spread in the US in the 1990s, when groups and individuals latched onto MSTA beliefs that Moors inhabited what became the Americas hundreds of years before American Indians, thus granting them self-governing, “nation-within-a-nation” status, and exemptions from laws like paying taxes or regulations like those surrounding property ownership.