The Search for a New Rupee Symbol

As the Finance Ministry seeks a sign that will replace ‘Rs’, top artists sent their designs to Open magazine. The US has the $, the UK has the £ and Japan the ¥. Now, India has finally decided to design its own currency symbol to replace the abbreviation ‘Rs’. The Ministry of Finance is running a contest to achieve this end. Anyone can send up to two entries before 15 April along with an entry fee of Rs 500. Meanwhile, this magazine decided to get designs from three wellknown artists—MF Husain, Baiju Parthan and Abir Patwardhan. Husain, who’s based in Dubai, was not aware of the contest when we approached him. “I’d like to give it a shot,” he said and emailed us his design within a week. He used the Devnagiri letter corresponding to ‘r’ (with two lines running along the top) because he wanted to use a symbol that could be completely our own. Punebased sculptor Abir Patwardhan’s design uses the Ashoka chakra. He has sent two options, one for the keyboard and a version for writing by hand. “The wheel depicts progress, movement and constant change,” he says. The four designs of Baiju Parthan, a contemporary artist from Mumbai, involve the capital R. “All stress ease of comprehension without veering away from the international design language that stresses simplicity as well as uniqueness,” he says. The contest entries will be evaluated by a jury that comprises seven members from the government and art institutions. Five entries will be shortlisted and each of these designers will be awarded Rs 25,000 each. The winner will bag Rs 250,000. The winning symbol will be the property of the government and the designer will not have any right over it, according to the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. Now, what about the paise?