View source for Religion:Khanda (Sikh symbol)

{{short description|Sikh symbol depicting Deg Tegh Fateh  doctrine}}
[[File:Khanda.svg|thumb|The Khanda, a common symbol of the Sikhs]]
The '''Khanda''' ({{lang-pa|ਖੰਡਾ|{{IAST|khaṇḍā}}}}) is the symbol of the Sikh faith ([[Religion:Sikhism|Sikhism]]) which attained its current form around the 1930s during the Ghadar Movement.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nishan Sahib Khanda Sikh Symbols Sikh Museum History Heritage Sikhs |url=http://www.sikhmuseum.com/nishan/20thcentury/modern.html |access-date=2022-10-05 |website=www.sikhmuseum.com |archive-date=2022-10-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015193336/https://www.sikhmuseum.com/nishan/20thcentury/modern.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Description ==
The modern Sikh symbol is never written on or in any copy of the [[Biography:Guru Granth Sahib|Guru Granth Sahib]].  The main symbol traditionally used in the Guru Granth Sahib and Gurdwaras around the world is "[[Religion:Ik Onkar|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 the Aad Chand.

It is an amalgam of 3 symbols:<ref name=rose>{{cite book | last = Rose | first = David | title = Sikhism photopack | publisher = Folens limited | date = 1995 | isbn = 1852767693 | page = 10}}</ref>

* A double-edged [[Engineering:Khanda (sword)|khanda (sword)]] in the centre
* A ''chakkar'' ([[Engineering:Chakram|chakram]]) 
* Two single-edged daggers, or [[Engineering:Kirpan|kirpan]], crossed at the bottom, which sit on either side of the khanda and chakkar. They represent the dual characteristics of ''[[Religion:Miri piri|Miri-Piri]]'', indicating the integration of both spiritual and temporal sovereignty together and not treating them as two separate and distinct entities.<ref>{{cite book | last = Teece | first = Geoff  | title = Sikhism | publisher = Black Rabbit Books | isbn = 1583404694 | page = 18}}</ref> The left sword is called Miri and the right sword is called Piri.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-07 |title=Parts of Khanda (Sikh Emblem) - Khanda Infographic {{!}} Nitnem Sahib |url=https://nitnemsahib.com/parts-of-khanda-sikh-emblem-khanda-infographic/ |access-date=2022-10-05 |website=nitnemsahib.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929010927/https://nitnemsahib.com/parts-of-khanda-sikh-emblem-khanda-infographic/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

It depicts the Sikh doctrine ''Deg Tegh Fateh'' in emblematic form. It consists of three weapons and a circle: the [[Engineering:Khanda (sword)|khanda]], two [[Engineering:Kirpan|kirpan]]s and the chakkar which is a sharp circular 
throwing weapon. Deg Teg Fateh ({{Lang-pa|ਦੇਗ ਤੇਗ਼ ਫ਼ਤਿਹ|links=no}}), 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 the ''[[Religion:Nishan Sahib|Nishan Sahib]]''. A double-edged [[Engineering:Khanda (sword)|khanda (sword)]] is placed at the top of a Nishan Sahib flag as an ornament or [[Engineering:Finial|finial]].

In recent years, the Khanda has been used to show solidarity within the Sikh community after high-profile shootings in the United States.<ref>Nolan, Bruce. [http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2012/08/sikhs_in_new_orleans_gather_to.html "Sikhs in New Orleans gather for Milwaukee shooting victims"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508112011/http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2012/08/sikhs_in_new_orleans_gather_to.html |date=2014-05-08 }}, ''The Times-Picayune'', New Orleans, 08 August 2012. Retrieved on 08 May 2014.</ref>

Another symbol that may be confused with the Khanda is the ''aad chand'' (lit. "half moon") of the Nihang, which consists of a ''khanda'' sword in the middle of a crescent, aligned with points upward.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nishan Sahib Khanda Sikh Symbols Sikh Museum History Heritage Sikhs |url=http://www.sikhmuseum.com/nishan/mistaken/crescent.html |access-date=2022-10-05 |website=www.sikhmuseum.com |archive-date=2022-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016091348/https://www.sikhmuseum.com/nishan/mistaken/crescent.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Character encodings and emoji ==
The symbol is encoded in [[Unicode]], at code point {{unichar|262C|ADI SHAKTI}} in the [[Miscellaneous Symbols]] block, and at {{unichar|1FAAF|KHANDA}} in the [[Symbols and Pictographs Extended-A]] block; the latter was added in Unicode 15.0 in 2022,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/Unicode-15.0/U150-1FA70.pdf |title=Symbols and Pictographs Extended-A |work=Unicode 15.0 Versioned Charts (delta charts) |publisher=[[Organization:Unicode Consortium|Unicode Consortium]]}}</ref> and defaults to colour [[Emoji|emoji]] presentation. The approach of using a separate code point, rather than using a [[Variation Selectors (Unicode block)|emoji variation sequence]], was taken in this case<ref>{{cite web |url=https://corp.unicode.org/pipermail/unicode/2022-September/010317.html |title=Process of transforming existing glyphs to emojis via variants |date=2022-09-26 |last=Ewell |first=Doug |website=[[Unicode]] Mailing List Archives}}</ref> since the use of variation sequences for emoji is now regarded as having been a mistake to begin with,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2023/23252-legacy-disunification.pdf |title=Proposal to disunify Symbols for Legacy Computing from emoji |first1=Rebecca |last1=Bettencourt |first2=Doug |last2=Ewell |id=UTC L2/23-252}}</ref> although [[Company:Samsung|Samsung]] had already implemented a colour glyph for {{tt|U+262C}} since 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://emojipedia.org/samsung/touchwiz-2.0/adi-shakti |title=Adi Shakti on Samsung TouchWiz Nature UX 2 |publisher=[[Emojipedia]]}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Religion:Emblem of Iran|Emblem of Iran]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}


[[Category:Sikh terminology]]

{{Sourceattribution|Khanda (Sikh symbol)}}