The UAE dirham symbol has cleared one of its biggest hurdles yet. The Unicode Consortium, the California-based authority that standardises how text and characters appear on every device on the planet, has officially approved the UAE dirham symbol for encoding in Unicode version 18.0. That means the symbol is on its way to phones, computers, and keyboards worldwide, with a target publication date of September 2026.
For a country as plugged into global finance and digital commerce as the UAE, this is a significant moment.
What Unicode Approval Actually Means
Unicode is the backbone of how every character, letter, and symbol displays consistently, whether you’re on an iPhone, an Android device, a Windows laptop, or a Mac. When a symbol gets approved for encoding, companies like Apple, Google, Samsung, and Microsoft can officially integrate it into their keyboard layouts and software updates.
For UAE users, Unicode approval means the dirham symbol will eventually work like the dollar sign, euro sign, or pound sign across digital systems. Before this, the dirham was represented by the text abbreviation “AED” or the Arabic shorthand “د.إ”, neither of which functions as a proper typographic currency symbol.
The UAE dirham sign, assigned the code point U+20CE, was among the first approvals for Unicode 18.0, confirmed at the Unicode Technical Committee meeting held in Redmond, Washington in July 2025, hosted by Microsoft.
Where the Symbol Came From
The symbol was unveiled by the Central Bank of the UAE in 2025 and is a stylised form based on the Arabic letter د (dal), the first letter in “Dirham.” The design is intentionally language-agnostic and works in both Latin and Arabic script contexts.
The two horizontal lines in the symbol represent the stripes of the UAE national flag, communicating unity and national identity.
The Central Bank also introduced a separate digital dirham symbol for online and app-based use. The digital version features a circle surrounding the physical currency symbol, using the colours of the UAE flag.
When and Where It Will Show Up
When the symbol becomes available, it will be placed above the number 6 key on keyboard layouts, replacing the caret symbol (^), and the position was chosen to ensure consistency across international keyboard layouts.
After that, expect to see it roll out across ATMs, pricing labels, banking apps, digital receipts, accounting software, and eventually physical notes and coins. That said, the pace depends entirely on individual tech companies. For many devices, including some mobile phones, many vendors do not routinely provide updates, or discontinue providing updates on older devices, according to a Unicode blog post.
Smartphones may see the symbol first through operating system updates, while some older devices may not support it at all.
A Bigger Update Coming With It
The dirham is not the only new addition. Unicode 18.0 will also introduce 13,048 new characters, including the Omani rial symbol, as part of broader Gulf Cooperation Council efforts to standardise currency representation in digital systems.
What This Means for the UAE
The UAE has been actively positioning itself as a global hub for digital finance and fintech. Having a dedicated currency symbol in the Unicode Standard puts the dirham in the same category as the world’s most recognised currencies. It is a practical step toward making the dirham a recognisable, typeable, searchable unit in every financial platform and app worldwide.
September 2026 is the official date. After that, every update you install could be the one that adds it to your keyboard.
Cover Image: AI-Generated for Illustration Purposes
