Rupee Gets a symbol of its own!!

[mysterious]

Another bold knock by India magnifying their global presence. The Indian Cabinet approved a symbol for the INR (Indian National Rupee) bringing it in parity with the likes of Dollar, Yen, Euro and Pound Sterling. The new symbol won't be incorporated on the currency (which is available only in the case of Pound), but it would be used to represent the Rupee which till now was represented by the abbreviation of the currency, INR. The symbol will be included in the "Unicode Standard" and major scripts of the world to ensure that it is easily displayed and printed in the electronic and print media.

To start the discussion...

1. What does having a symbol for a currency signify?

2. Was it necessary for the Rupee to get a symbol of its own?

3. Does having a symbol for the currency symbolize economic power?

4. So is India indeed rising up as a global power, or is it yet another stunt by the current Indian government to pacify the public issues by emanating National Pride ("India Shining")

More details on the news can be found here.

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

1. Hmm...I think it's a lot more of a cultural thing than anything else. I mean, people can say USD just as much as they can use $ but it would be just strange not seeing that $ sign before it.

2. I don't think so at all.

3. It seems like it, even though it doesn't really affect anything like actually using money. I mean, with economic power, more people, even those outside of that country, would know about it and know approximately how much to exchange it for, but at the same time, it's mostly within the country and a symbol can't change that. but at the same time, a symbol is meant to symbolize something.

4. I personally think so, but we'll just have to wait and see.

[lilyrose]

Originally Posted by mysterious

1. What does having a symbol for a currency signify?

A distinct identity, I believe.

2. Was it necessary for the Rupee to get a symbol of its own?

Yes, I think so. Especially because countries like Pakistan and Sri Lanka also have the Rupee as their currency and to distinguish our Rupee from theirs, this symbol will help.

3. Does having a symbol for the currency symbolize economic power?

It seems to. It's again got to do with the identity, I think, which the media and most people herald as one more instance of India's 'arrival on the global stage'.

4. So is India indeed rising up as a global power, or is it yet another stunt by the current Indian government to pacify the public issues by emanating National Pride ("India Shining")

No, I don't think this is a Govt stunt.

Coming up with a symbol for the rupee is one in a list of things Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced in his Union budget and I think the way the contest to submit designs was conducted and the way it has been received, as an issue of 'national pride', is nothing wrong. It doesn't take away the attention from public issues.

As for the design itself, I like it. It's elegant and easy to use, plus I like the concept of the two horizontal lines being used to represent the tricolour

Quote from Udaya Kumar, creator of the new Rupee symbol: Explaining the symbol, Kumar said his design was based on the Tricolour with two lines at the top and white space in between. "I wanted the symbol to represent the Indian flag. It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters: a capital 'R', and Devanagari 'Ra', which represent rupiya," he said.

Link

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

I'm not sure how relevant this is to the topic, but I just realized something weird. I'm in China and yet the keyboards I've used here have all had the dollar sign instead of the yen sign...

And I agree with lilyrose about national pride, definitely a cultural thing which is great in its own way.

[mysterious]

Originally Posted by Voldemorts8thHorcrux

I'm not sure how relevant this is to the topic, but I just realized something weird. I'm in China and yet the keyboards I've used here have all had the dollar sign instead of the yen sign...

Thats because you are using the International standard keyboard. After the Rupee has been incorporated by the Unicode standards, it will appear in a number of keyboards, especially in India, so as to make the use of the symbol more prevalent.

1. What does having a symbol for a currency signify?
I agree with both of you that the symbol, gives the currency an identity as well as a cultural representation, especially the fact that it derives its root from "Devnagri Script". At the same time the fact that it depicts the English Alphabet "R", suggests the upcoming global image of India, which apart from being close to its roots, is making its presence on the global arena.

When I read the article about the incorporation of the symbol, the word Ethos was stressed a lot, how the symbol captures the Ethos of India.

2. Was it necessary for the Rupee to get a symbol of its own?
Well Lily has given the reason given by the government for adapting the symbol, to stand out from the likes of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, etc. But then when you take up a stand from the throng, don't you think you are sending some kind of message?

3. Does having a symbol for the currency symbolize economic power?
Well when you look at the countries that have a symbol for their currency, one will not miss the fact that it is a small and elite group comprised of all the economic giants of the world, so I would say yes, a symbol does signify the economic power of the nation.

4. So is India indeed rising up as a global power, or is it yet another stunt by the current Indian government to pacify the public issues by emanating National Pride ("India Shining")
Again Lily has told us as to how the take up of the symbol came into being, but then again, I tend to believe that this is just to out shadow the constant appearances of internal problems from the tabloids. Especially of late, when all you see is, increasing inflation rate, Naxalism and 8 states of India being poorer than 26 poor countries of Africa.

[Wab]

Originally Posted by Voldemorts8thHorcrux

I'm not sure how relevant this is to the topic, but I just realized something weird. I'm in China and yet the keyboards I've used here have all had the dollar sign instead of the yen sign...

Why would China have the yen when its currency is the yuan?

[canismajoris]

Originally Posted by Wab

Why would China have the yen when its currency is the yuan?

Why would it have the dollar sign then?

[Wab]

There you go. Did a bit of research and find the yuan uses the yen symbol. It is a puzzle.

[lilyrose]

Originally Posted by mysterious

Again Lily has told us as to how the take up of the symbol came into being, but then again, I tend to believe that this is just to out shadow the constant appearances of internal problems from the tabloids. Especially of late, when all you see is, increasing inflation rate, Naxalism and 8 states of India being poorer than 26 poor countries of Africa.

How has the news about the new rupee symbol overshadowed any major issue? The media raved over the rupee symbol maximum for that day only. As far as I can see, the public and the media are still bothered about inflation, Naxalism, decontrol, the upcoming CWG and even the latest Indo-Pak talks fiasco of sorts. IMO the symbol for the rupee is just that, a symbol worth cherishing, which in a way, constantly reminds us of the problems we need to overcome to attain our true potential

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

Originally Posted by Wab

Why would China have the yen when its currency is the yuan?

I know that, but they look identical, the symbol I mean, not the actual money.

Edit: Never mind, saw your latest post. Either way, it seems odd, because not only is it the dollar sign on the keyboards here I've used, it's also English words, but that's for another thread.

I've been looking up other keyboards too and it seems that a lot of them incorporate the Euro and Pound sign too.

[Klio]

I think it is a good move to get a symbol for the Rupee - although it'll be some time to find it on keyboards, and it will be quite some work to make the sign easily recognised everywhere round the world.

Not sure how much it really projects power - but I guess it could have the effect of making it clearer that the Rupee is a currency used by an impressive percentage of the world's population (I assume that it's upwards of 15%). I'd like to know, though, what percentage of the world's economic activity is currently done in Rupees, and where the Rupee stands in currency rankings in that respect - although that is obviously going to grow....


I like the design of the sign - it's obviously an 'R', but it also looks like an Indian letter. In fact, I read that it is composed of the Latin and Indian letters for the Rupee - can somebody post the composites? I'd like to know! Anyway - it's an elegant sign, and as somebody who is interested in design I think that this is important!! (for what it's worth, I do like the design of the Euro sign, too).

Originally Posted by Voldemorts8thHorcrux

I'm not sure how relevant this is to the topic, but I just realized something weird. I'm in China and yet the keyboards I've used here have all had the dollar sign instead of the yen sign...

And I agree with lilyrose about national pride, definitely a cultural thing which is great in its own way.

Euro and Pound are less common, I think .... here in the UK the keyboards all have the pound, but not the Euro (although one of my function keys acts as Euro key - but this differs in different keyboards: there doesn't seem to be an obvious Euro key).I think on the COntinent the Euro key is where the £ is on UK keyboards?



Anyway - the $ sign isn't just there for talking about the US currency. I remember writing programme code back in the early 1990s, and at that point the $ sign was a crucial part of some aspects of code (obviously, the code had been invented in the US, and they presumably needed an extra sign and used what they had on the keyboard). So, just like the @ sign (which wasn't originally incuded on German keyboards, for example), that sign has taken on a meaning beyond being a currency sign. Not sure about programming now, but at least in the early(ish) days, Chinese programmers would have been pretty miffed if they didn't have a key for the $ sign, I'd expect....

[lilyrose]

Originally Posted by Klio

I like the design of the sign - it's obviously an 'R', but it also looks like an Indian letter. In fact, I read that it is composed of the Latin and Indian letters for the Rupee - can somebody post the composites? I'd like to know! Anyway - it's an elegant sign, and as somebody who is interested in design I think that this is important!! (for what it's worth, I do like the design of the Euro sign, too).

From this link I'd posted earlier:

Quote from Udaya Kumar, creator of the new Rupee symbol: Explaining the symbol, Kumar said his design was based on the Tricolour with two lines at the top and white space in between. "I wanted the symbol to represent the Indian flag. It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters: a capital 'R', and Devanagari 'Ra', which represent rupiya," he said.

I love his concept because it makes the symbol easy, elegant and very Indian, thanks to the Devanagari 'Ra' and the tricolour

Here's a link with the image.

[Klio]

Well, I have to disagree with you on the flag bit, Lily..., from a non-Indian point of view the tricolor bit of the sign is a little difficult to follow, and isn't obvious - seeing that, by its very nature, a tricolor can hardly be in black and white (and too many countries have 'three-stripes' type flags) - so, if you can't see the colour, I don't see how it could project the idea 'typically Indian' (in fact, the Indian flag becomes distinctive because of the wheel it adds to the tricolor, and without that....).

In addition, all the big currency symbols seem to have an extra line added to a letter somewhere, so that's what I immediately grasped: it's obviously a currency sign - the tricolor thing just isn't obvious unless you are told about it - and visual design has to work without explanation.

However - it looks
1) like an R
2) instantly Indian (because of the top line of the letter, which immediately reminded me of Devanagari)
3) like a currency sign because of the second horizontal line
4) pretty 'modern' with the way in which it looks more dynamic by leaving out the left stroke of the R (I know now that he did that because that makes it look like the 'Ra' - but this western observer has to go by first gut instinct).


I think that's packing a lot of 'gut reaction' into one symbol in any case.



For all those who don't know Devanagari (I don't).... I just looked it up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devanagari the article includes a table with the 'Ra', and you can see just how clever the sign is once you know what the Indian letter looks like.

[lilyrose]

Originally Posted by Klio

Well, I have to disagree with you on the flag bit, Lily..., from a non-Indian point of view the tricolor bit of the sign is a little difficult to follow, and isn't obvious - seeing that, by its very nature, a tricolor can hardly be in black and white (and too many countries have 'three-stripes' type flags) - so, if you can't see the colour, I don't see how it could project the idea 'typically Indian' (in fact, the Indian flag becomes distinctive because of the wheel it adds to the tricolor, and without that....).

The 'tricolour' that I meant doesn't refer to colour, more to our flag which has three stripes and yes the curve from the 'Ra' forms an in-between circle-like image that is representative of the Ashoka chakra. At least the designer seems to have had the tricolour in mind when coming up with the symbol, as seen from his quote above. I agree with you though, that this might not be what non-Indians find obviously Indian about it

[Klio]

Lily - I grew up in a country with a (horizontal) tricolour flag, and there are (if I counted correctly) nine countries in Europe with a tricolour flag, not counting the four with a tricolour flag and a symbol in it, and another five with a vertical tricolour flag (plus three with such a flag and a symbol in it). http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_2...777799m8uZ.jpg

I am going on about this, since I always thought that the Austrian tricolour (well, actually it's just red/white/red) was rather less exciting in its design.... and I have to say, I'd never have considered three lines which weren't in those specific colours as a representation of our flag. It's just not specific enough. That said, I am also a bit defensive about tricolour flags.... I think too many countries share such flags for one country (even a big one) to claim that three horizontal stripes without the characteristic colour coding automatically stand for that one country, but not any of the others: thus I think India might diplomatically try to refrain from publicising this particular interpretation internationally....


Anyway - there is enough going on in that rupee sign without pushing its meaning further than it would probably go for most people....

Personally I'd say that the shape of the letter very effectively says 'this looks Indian' - at least to anybody who has ever even caught a glimpse of the Devanagari script.

[Voldemorts8thHorcrux]

I personally think it looks Indian, and I'm completely unfamiliar with the Indian written language. It just has that Asian feel to it in general. I think it really combines tradition and becoming part of the global stage, becoming more powerful without losing its roots.