Hasta La Ideas

India’s currency, the rupee, does not have its own symbol; it’s often abbreviated “Rs” and lacks the $ that the dollar has. This must make Indian cartoons confusing, as greedy characters with a big “R” in each eye must look like they’re more concerned with intellectual property than cash.

The problem will soon be solved, as a committee headed up by Usha Thorat, the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, has held a design competition for the symbol, receiving over 4,000 entries. They’ve just narrowed it down to the final five, and a decision on the new symbol should be reached by March of next year.

The winner will receive a certain amount of his or her own “Rs”–250,000, to be exact.

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