The Omani Rial Now Has an Official Symbol: Design, Use and Unicode
The Central Bank of Oman unveiled an official rial symbol on 19 November 2025. This explains the design, how to write it, and why you may not be able to type it yet.
The Omani rial has had an official symbol since 19 November 2025, when the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) launched it around National Day. The CBO's own wording called it a step to make the currency recognisable on financial, commercial and digital platforms, and tied it to Oman Vision 2040. In September 2026 it also gained a place in Unicode, the international text standard, which is what lets software display it. We last checked on 6 November 2026.
The design
The mark combines the Arabic letter ayn, shaped as it appears at the start of a word (the first letter of "Omani"), and ra (the first letter of "rial"), crossed by two lines. The CBO describes the straight, structured strokes as a sign of stability and strength, and says the design works for both handwriting and digital use. Wikipedia reports that Sultan Haitham bin Tariq approved it, and that Oman is the third Arab state to issue a currency symbol after Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The Observer and Times of Oman reports we read do not mention the approval, so treat that detail as secondary.
How to write it
Put the symbol before the number with a space, as Wikipedia describes the CBO's usage. Until the symbol is widely supported, the safest way to avoid broken text is to keep writing OMR or RO in documents that travel between systems, such as invoices sent to other companies or spreadsheets opened on older software.
Unicode and keyboards
Unicode 18.0 was released on 16 September 2026. TBreak's report on the release lists the Omani rial sign as U+20C4 alongside the UAE dirham sign and the Maldivian rufiyaa sign, and Wikipedia agrees. We could not confirm U+20C4 directly from the Unicode page we opened, which was a draft overview without the character list, so use the code point as reported rather than guaranteed.
Having a code point does not put the symbol on your keyboard. Apple, Google, Samsung, Microsoft and the keyboard and font makers must each ship Unicode 18.0 support first, and no date has been given for consumer devices. Until then:
- Many apps will display an empty box or a question mark in place of the symbol.
- Designers may have to use an image or a special font.
- The CBO has provided downloadable image files of the symbol on its site. We could not open that page ourselves, so check the CBO site for the format and usage rules.
What it means for you
For most residents nothing changes in daily life. Prices, banknotes and bank statements still use the usual abbreviations. If you run a business, you can start adding the symbol to price tags, menus and websites once your fonts support it. For other recent changes to payments, see our notes on Maal card fees and the Maal overview, or browse the blog.
Frequently asked questions
What does the symbol look like?
It joins two stylised Arabic letters, ayn and ra (the first letters of Omani and rial), with two lines across them. The Central Bank of Oman says the straight lines are meant to suggest stability and strength.
Where does the symbol go in a price?
Before the amount, with a space, for example the symbol then 10.
Can I type it on my phone or computer?
Not reliably yet. It is encoded as U+20C4 in Unicode 18.0 (September 2026), but phone, computer and keyboard makers must still add support, so many devices will show a blank box or a missing character for now.
Do I have to use it?
We found no rule making it compulsory. The CBO says the aim is a consistent look across banking systems, reports and digital platforms. The abbreviation OMR still works in the meantime.