Do you know ? RBI logo was adopted from East India Company’s gold coin.
On 1 April 1935 the Reserve Bank of India was ensconced during the British Rule.It replicated its official emblem after the double mohur of The East India Company. The logo originally featured a sketch of the Lion and Palm Tree but it was later decided to substitute the lion with a tiger to represent India better.
The selection of the Bank’s common seal to be used as the emblem of the Bank on currency notes, cheques and publications, was an issue that had to be taken up at an early stage of the Bank’s formation.
The general ideas on the seal were as follows:
the seal should emphasise the Governmental status of the Bank, but not too closely;
it should have something Indian in the design;
it should be simple, artistic and heraldically correct; and
the design should be such that it could be used without substantial alteration for letter heading, etc.
For this purpose, various seals, medals and coins were examined. The logo of Lion and Palm Tree replaced the lion with a tiger.
The tiger was referred from the statue at the gate of Belvedere, Kolkata. These are established by ‘RESERVE BANK OF INDIA’ at the bottom. This has been completed by two concentric circles with thin and thick lines. Obviously, this design is very formal and emphasises the “Government status of the bank” with Indian pattern which resembles a heraldry.
Royal Bengal Tiger
The Royal Bengal tiger or Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), is a subspecies of tiger native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Since 25th century BCE it was found on the Pashupati seal of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Later this was the symbol of the Chola Empire from 300 CE to 1279 CE and is now the official animal of India. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place. Though it has been adapted from a sculpture, it is executed using wood engraving technique which was prevalent in 18th century.
Palm Tree
The head of the palm is visually comparable to glowing sun-star and with symbolic meanings such as honour, truth, value, vitality, warmth, fertile, expansion, protection, aspiration, attainment, unification, resurrection and singleness of purpose. It emanates masculine energy.
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
The name of the central bank in Devanagari and English is written using rounded bevel serif typefaces. This typeface closely resembles Cooper Old Style Bold by Linotype, which was designed in 1919 by Ozwald Bruce Cooper, an American.
Circles
Circles do not begin or end and therefore they are infinite. They move freely without restriction, meaning energy and power. This free movement can protect what’s inside their boundaries and denotes defence, endurance and safety or femininity and the womb.