The Indian rupee is represented by the symbol ₹. The symbol is used across India on currency, official documents and digital platforms. But the symbol has a story behind its design. The Indian rupee symbol was designed by D Udaya Kumar, who was a postgraduate student at IIT Bombay when his design was selected by the Government of India.
D Udaya Kumar designed the ₹ symbol as part of a competition organised by the Government of India. A jury headed by the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India shortlisted five designs. The government later selected Kumar’s design. The design combines the Devanagari letter ‘र’ (Ra) with the Roman capital letter ‘R’. The symbol also has two horizontal lines at the top. The horizontal lines also form part of the visual design of the symbol.
More than 3,000 designs were submitted for the competition.
The design reflects elements of both the Devanagari and Roman scripts, according to the government’s description.
