Khanda (Sikh symbol)


The khanda is the symbol of the Sikh faith, that attained its current form around the first decade of the 20th century.
It is an amalgam of three symbols:
It depicts the Sikh doctrine Deg Tegh Fateh in emblematic form. It consists of three weapons and a circle: the khanda, two kirpans and the chakkar which is a circle. It is the military emblem of the Sikhs. It is also part of the design of the Nishan Sahib. A double edged khanda is placed at the top of a Nishan Sahib flag as an ornament or finial.
In recent years, the Khanda has been used to show solidarity within the Sikh community after high profile shootings in the United States.
Another symbol that may be confused with the Khanda is the aad chand of the Nihang, which consists of a khanda sword in the middle of a crescent, aligned with points upward.
The symbol is encoded in Unicode, in the Miscellaneous Symbols range, at code point U+262C.