A brushless DC motor which can be started positively by using a single position detecting element. The motor has a starting circuit which forcibly energizes the stator coils thereby to start rotating the rotor. The position detecting element produces n position signals corresponding to n positions of the rotor at which a specific stator coil is to be energized. When the position detecting element produces one of the n position signals, the motor begins to energize the stator coils according to position signals obtained from counter electromotive forces generated in the stator coils. Further, one of the n position signals produced by the position detecting element is made different from the other, a reference position signal can be obtained.