"My design is based on the tricolour, with two lines at the top and white space in between. I wanted the symbol for the rupee to represent the Indian flag. It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters: a capital 'R' and Devanagari 'ra' which represents rupiya, to appeal to international audiences and Indian audiences," design winner Udaya Kumar of his creation.

Take an emerging superpower, a burgeoning economy and a contest to design an iconic symbol to represent your country’s currency and what do you get? A fresh simplistic character with which India’s government hopes will become as globally recognizable as the $, ¥ and €.

For years the Indian currency, Rupee, has been designated in text as Rs or INR. But with the recent unveiling, India is putting it’s might behind a campaign to have the new symbol on computer keyboards within two years.

The winning design was selected by the Indian cabinet on July 15, 2010 from a shortlist of five following a national competition. The winner, Udaya Kumar, a teacher of design at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, will receive a prize of just $5350 for his efforts. Some critics feel the new symbol is boring, conservative and lacking much innovation for an emerging economy hoping to entrench itself even further onto the world map. But India’s information minister, Ambika Soni, had this to say upon the unveiling, “It denotes the robustness of the Indian economy.”

For now the “old” standby of Rs and INR will be seen for many years to come. As for travelers to the South Asian country, there will be no changes at this point in the Rupee note design or in transactions involving the currency.