Rufiyaa sign

Rufiyaa sign
In UnicodeU+20C2 ⃂ <reserved-20C2>
Currency
CurrencyMaldivian rufiyaa
Related
See alsoU+0783 ރ THAANA LETTER RAA
Category

The rufiyaa sign () is the currency sign used for the Maldivian rufiyaa, the official currency of the Maldives. The design was presented to the public by the Maldives Monetary Authority on 3 July 2022. It is based on the Thaana letter ރ, with an additional horizontal stroke. The symbol should precede the value, e.g., 10.[1][2]

History

In 2021, the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) announced plans to introduce an official currency symbol for the Maldivian rufiyaa, which previously did not have a dedicated graphic sign. As part of this initiative, the MMA organised a design competition open to Maldivian citizens, publishing submission guidelines and evaluation criteria. The deadline for entries was 21 February 2021,[3] and a total of 70 submissions were received.[4] A design was subsequently selected by a panel of judges including officials from MMA and Dhivehi Bahuge Academy.[5]

On 3 July 2022, the MMA officially introduced the rufiyaa currency symbol at its headquarters. The winning design, created by Hassan Shujau, was presented by Aminath Shauna.[4] On 8 September 2022, the first banknotes incorporating the new symbol were issued.[6] Naail Abdul Rahman and Abdulla Shafeeu submitted a proposal to the Unicode Consortium for inclusion of the symbol in The Unicode Standard on 10 March 2025. A revised second proposal was submitted on 13 March 2025, followed by a third and final revision submitted on 15 May 2025.[7] On 18 July 2025, the Unicode Script Encoding Working Group approved the proposal, with inclusion expected in Unicode 18.0.[8]

Design

The rufiyaa sign is based on the Thaana letter "ރ,” the first letter of "ރުފިޔާ" (rufiyaa in Dhivehi). A horizontal stroke has been added to the letter “ރ” to evoke the arithmetic equals sign, a motif commonly used in other currency symbols.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Currency Symbol for Maldivian Rufiyaa". Maldives Monetary Authority. Archived from the original on 18 April 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  2. ↑ "Usage Guideline for Maldivian Rufiyaa Symbol" (PDF). Maldives Monetary Authority (in Divehi and English). Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 February 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  3. ↑ Hingun, Nikagas. "Challenge Yourself In This Historic Opportunity To Design The Symbol To Be Used For Maldivian Rufiyaa!". Coralglass.Market. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  4. 1 2 Hingun, Nikagas. "Have a Look At The New Symbol for Maldivian Currency!". Coralglass.Market. Archived from the original on 26 April 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "MMA unveils new currency symbol for Maldivian Rufiyaa". One Online. 3 June 2022. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  6. ↑ Faaiq, Ali (14 November 2022). "MMA issues new banknotes with Maldivian Rufiyaa symbol". The Times of Addu. Archived from the original on 26 April 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  7. 1 2 Rahman, Naail Abdul; Shafeeu, Abdulla (15 May 2025). "Proposal to encode Maldivian Rufiyaa Sign in the Unicode Standard" (PDF). Unicode Consortium. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 April 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  8. ↑ Kučera, Jan; Anderson, Deborah; Pournader, Roozbeh; Constable, Peter; Goregaokar, Manish; Leroy, Robin (18 July 2025). "Recommendations to UTC #184 (July 2025) on Script Proposals" (PDF). Unicode Consortium. Script Encoding Working Group. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 January 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
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