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A written Gurmukhi phrase used as an emblem, opening the Sikh scripture.
Also known as: Ek Onkar, Ik Oankar
Sometimes confused with: One God symbol
Ik Onkar is not a picture but a piece of writing: the Gurmukhi numeral one followed by the letter ura with an extended stroke, meaning 'one being' or 'there is one'. It opens the Guru Granth Sahib and stands at the head of the Mul Mantar, and it is used as an emblem on buildings, vehicles, jewellery and printed matter. Reading it as an abstract design — trying to find a figure or an object in the shape — is the commonest way it is misunderstood.
Is written language rather than a device: the Gurmukhi figure one followed by a letter with an extended stroke, read as 'there is one being'. Attempts to find a picture in the shape mistake a script for an emblem.
Contexts: Religion
Opens the Guru Granth Sahib and stands at the head of the Mul Mantar, which is why it is the phrase most often chosen to mark a Sikh building, publication or vehicle.
Contexts: Religion
Is regularly taken for the Om by readers who have met both as flowing South Asian script. The two are unrelated: this is Gurmukhi, read as a phrase, and the Om is a Devanagari syllable. The catalogue itself made the mistake — it carried this phrase as one of the Om's own names until it was corrected.
Contexts: Religion
A written figure one joined to a looped letter whose upper stroke extends into a long curving arc to the right, ending in a small hook.