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TheKhanda (Punjabi:ਖੰਡਾ,romanized: khaṇḍā) is the symbol of theSikhism which attained its current form around the 1930s during theGhadar Movement.[1]
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The modern Sikh symbol is never written on or in any copy of theGuru Granth Sahib. The main symbol traditionally used in the Guru Granth Sahib andGurdwaras around the world is "Ik Onkar". Traditionally, it was very common to see "Ik Onkar" above the entrance to a Gurdwara, or on the front page of the Guru Granth Sahib. The other one was theAad Chand.
It is an amalgam of 3 symbols:[2]
It depicts the Sikh doctrineDeg Tegh Fateh inemblematic form. It consists of three weapons and a circle: thekhanda, twokirpans and the chakkar which is a sharp circular throwing weapon. Deg Teg Fateh (Punjabi:ਦੇਗ ਤੇਗ਼ ਫ਼ਤਿਹ), or Victory to Charity and Arms) is a Sikh slogan and the title of an anthem in the Punjabi language that signifies the dual obligations of the Khalsa: The responsibility to provide food, and to provide protection, for the needy and oppressed. Deg refers to the "cauldron" and Tegh to the "sword". The cauldron or kettle symbolizes charity and is a reference to the Sikh religious obligation to provide langar, the free distribution of food, to all people, irrespective of an individual's religion, caste or ethnicity. The sword, or (kirpan), represents the warrior code of the Khalsa. The Khanda icon conveys these two principles. It is the military emblem of the Sikhs. It is also part of the design of theNishan Sahib. A double-edgedkhanda (sword) is placed at the top of a Nishan Sahib flag as an ornament orfinial.
In recent years, the Khanda has been used to show solidarity within the Sikh community after high-profile shootings in the United States.[5]
Another symbol that may be confused with the Khanda is theaad chand (lit. 'half moon') of theNihang, which consists of akhanda sword in the middle of a crescent, aligned with points upward.[6]
The symbol is encoded inUnicode, at code pointU+262C ☬ADI SHAKTI in theMiscellaneous Symbols block, and atU+1FAAF 🪯KHANDA in theSymbols and Pictographs Extended-A block; the latter was added in Unicode 15.0 in 2022,[7] and defaults to colouremoji presentation. The approach of using a separate code point, rather than using anemoji variation sequence, was taken in this case[8] since the use of variation sequences for emoji is now regarded as having been a mistake to begin with,[9] althoughSamsung had already implemented a colour glyph forU+262C since 2013.[10]
