Coat of arms of India

Emblem of India भारत का राष्ट्रीय चिह्न
Details
Armiger	Republic of India
Adopted	26 January 1950
Motto	Satyameva Jayate "Truth Alone Triumphs"

The State Emblem of India, as the national emblem of India is called, is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, preserved in the Varanasi Sarnath Museum in India. It was adopted on 26 January 1950, the day that India became a republic.

The emblem forms a part of the official letterhead of the Government of India and appears on all Indian currency as well. It also functions as the national emblem of India in many places and appears prominently on Indian passports. The Ashoka Chakra (wheel) on its base features in the centre of the national flag of India.

The usage of the emblem is regulated and restricted under State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005. No individual or private organisation is permitted to use the emblem for official correspondence.

The actual Sarnath capital features four Asiatic lions standing back to back, symbolizing power, courage, confidence and pride mounted on a circular base. At the bottom is a horse and a bull, and at its centre is a beautiful wheel (Dharma chakra). The abacus is girded with a frieze of sculptures in high relief of an elephant (of the east), a bull (of the west), a horse (of the south), and a lion (of the north), separated by intervening wheels, over a lotus in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. Carved from a single block of sandstone, the polished capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).

In the emblem adopted by Madhav Sawhney in 1950, only three lions are visible, the fourth being hidden from view. The wheel appears in relief in the centre of the abacus, with a bull on the right and a galloping horse on the left, and outlines of Dharma Chakras on the extreme right and left. The bell-shaped lotus beneath the abacus has been omitted.

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