When Britain ruled the world, its astronomer drew the Prime Meridian, 0 degrees longitude through the observatory at Greenwich. The French did their part in defining metric standards. During America’s dominance in the 20th century, the world got Country Code 1 for the United States and later the dot com domain on the internet, whereas other countries are supposed to use .uk (for United Kingdom), .de (for Germany), .in (for India) and .cn for China.
The European Union tried to assert its identity with the single European Currency and the Euro symbol. What about India. I grew up using the term “Re” or “Rs” as an abbreviation for Rupee. The correct international abbreviation is INR, for INdian Rupee (as distinct from similar names in Pakistan, Nepal, even Indonesia).
Not wanting to be left behind, India wants a graphic symbol for the Rupee. According to the BBC, “the hope is that the rupee sign will become as ubiquitous as the US dollar ($), or that instant emblem of the digital age, the @ symbol.” Hey, it’s the year after Obama’s bestseller, The Audacity of Hope.
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Last updated: December 26th, 2025
