New Rupee Symbol

[Waffles]

NEW DELHI ? The Indian rupee joined the U.S. dollar, the British pound, the euro and the Japanese yen on Thursday when it got its very own symbol.

The rupee?s new rune is a modification of a letter in the Devanagari script, which is used to write Hindi, India?s official language. It was designed by D. Udaya Kumar, a student at the Indian Institute of Technology, who studied typography, scripts and ancient printing methods. It looks like a capital letter R, minus its vertical leg, and with two added horizontal lines through the upper, curved portion.

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/business/global/16rupee.html

I like the thought process behind it, as well as the execution.

I'm curious as to how this gets implemented. How does a new symbol get added to Unicode and HTML? How does it become part of typefaces, both on the web and on personal computers? Do I have to redownload all my fonts to get it?

[LMU]

Interesting how it's based off Hindi script yet still retains a R shape.

Of course, when I saw the thread, the first thing that entered my mind was the Legend of Zelda.

[Audiodrama]

[dfwabel]

How long before Pakistan develops a version of their own just to p*ss off India?

[CS85]

I like it! I wish I could give a more overwhelming review, but it fits very nicely!

Now my only question is why do I never find them when I cut down bushes in my yard?

[aci]

It looks good- it's easy to remember and fits with all the other money-related symbols.

[The Imperfect]

And in other news, the Indian economy continues to boom...

[Quillz]

I like currency that has its own unique symbol.

[schlim]

Here's an interesting article from Slate on the development of other currency symbols. Apparently, no one knows why the US $ is sometimes depicted with two strokes through the S.

[WJMorris3]

[VC//]

How long before Pakistan develops a version of their own just to p*ss off India?

I always laugh at the tension between India & Pakistan, I'm East Indian (family is from Gujarat) but born and raised in Canada. I like the new Rupee symbol and I think it's a job well done.

People also need to go and take a look at what Sanskrit is and how long it's been around before they think it "resembles" anything. You might find out who borrows from whom then.

Sanskrit also echoes through the English-language world, as the source of such words as "yoga," "karma" and "nirvana" -- not to mention "orange" and "sugar."

Hint: Sanskrit is about 3,500yrs old.

[VC//]

I like it! I wish I could give a more overwhelming review, but it fits very nicely!

Now my only question is why do I never find them when I cut down bushes in my yard?

I've killed countless bugs and have never been rewarded with a blue, green or red rupee...I always feel ripped off after I have squashed an insect.

[njmeadowlanders]

Here's an interesting article from Slate on the development of other currency symbols. Apparently, no one knows why the US $ is sometimes depicted with two strokes through the S.

I thought it was because the original intent was to have a "U" and "S" superimposed over one another. It didn't go over too well so people stuck to the 2 vertical lines from the "U" but never completed the bottom of the letter. As to why it became one line, no idea.