The Soyombo symbol [a] is a special character in the Soyombo alphabet invented by Zanabazar in 1686. The name "Soyombo" is derived from Sanskrit svayambhu "self-created". The Soyombo symbol serves both as a traditional symbol of Mongolia, Buryatia and Kalmykia, and as a national symbol of Mongolia, to be found on the Flag of Mongolia, the Emblem of Mongolia, and on many other official documents.
In the Soyombo alphabet, the two variations of the Soyombo symbol are used to mark the start and end of a text. It is thought to be possible that the symbol itself may predate the script.[ citation needed ]
The Soyombo has ten elements in the columnar arrangement of abstract and geometric symbols and patterns. They are fire, sun, crescent moon, two triangles, two horizontal rectangles, the Taijitu (yin and yang), and two vertical rectangles. The elements in the symbol are given the following significance (from top):
The Soyombo symbol has appeared on the national flag of Mongolia since its independence in 1911 (except between 1940 and 1945). It served as the Emblem of Mongolia from 1911 to 1940, and was included in the design again in 1960. Mongolian Armed Forces vehicles bear the symbol as a marking.
The symbol is seen all over the country, especially on a hillside outside of Ulaanbaatar.[ clarification needed ]
The flag and coat of arms of Buryatia as well as the flag of Agin-Buryat Okrug in Russia, and that of the Inner Mongolian People's Party display the top elements (Flame, Sun, and Moon).
The Soyombo symbol is available in Unicode, where it is encoded in the Soyombo block (added to Unicode version 10.0 in June 2017) as a script-specific punctuation mark:
These three head marks are usable along with two other related terminal marks (keeping only the two lateral vertical rectangles and replacing the central symbols):
Various Mongolian writing systems have been devised for the Mongolian language over the centuries, and from a variety of scripts. The oldest and native script, called simply the Mongolian script, has been the predominant script during most of Mongolian history, and is still in active use today in the Inner Mongolia region of China and has de facto use in Mongolia.
The Buryats are a Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia who speak the Buryat language. They are one of the two largest indigenous groups in Siberia, the other being the Yakuts. The majority of the Buryats today live in their titular homeland, the Republic of Buryatia, a federal subject of Russia which sprawls along the southern coast and partially straddles Lake Baikal. Smaller groups of Buryats also inhabit Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug and the Agin-Buryat Okrug which are to the west and east of Buryatia respectively as well as northeastern Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China. They traditionally formed the major northern subgroup of the Mongols.
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The Soyombo script is an abugida developed by the monk and scholar Zanabazar in 1686 to write Mongolian. It can also be used to write Tibetan and Sanskrit.
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The national flag of Mongolia is a vertical triband with a red stripe at each side and a blue stripe in the middle, with the Mongolian Soyombo symbol centering on the leftmost stripe. The blue stripe represents the eternal blue sky, and the red stripes thriving for eternity. The Soyombo symbol is a geometric abstraction that represents fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and a symbol representing two fish as in Mongol mythology fish never sleep thus symbolizing that the spirit of the Mongol people never sleeps.
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The flag of Kalmykia consists of a yellow field with a sky blue circle in the center containing a lotus. The yellow stands for the sun, the people and the religious faith of the nation. The blue represents the sky, eternity, and steadiness. The lotus is a symbol of purity, spiritual rebirth and happiness. Its five upper petals represent the continents and the lower four stand for the quarters of the globe. Together, they symbolize the will of the Kalmyks to live in friendship and to cooperate with all the nations of the world.
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Planetary symbols are used in astrology and traditionally in astronomy to represent a classical planet or one of the modern planets. The classical symbols were also used in alchemy for the seven metals known to the ancients, which were associated with the planets, and in calendars for the seven days of the week associated with the seven planets. The original symbols date to Greco-Roman astronomy; their modern forms developed in the 16th century, and additional symbols would be created later for newly discovered planets.
The state flag of Agin-Buryat Okrug in eastern Russia is a vertical tricolour of blue, yellow and white. The flag is charged with a yellow partial Soyombo symbol at the upper end of the blue band. The Soyombo is a cultural symbol of the Mongol people and is also present on the flags of Mongolia and Buryatia.
Unicode contains a number of characters that represent various cultural, political, and religious symbols. Most, but not all, of these symbols are in the Miscellaneous Symbols block.
The state flag of the Buryat Republic in southeastern Russia is a horizontal tricolour of blue, white and yellow in a 2:1:1 ratio with a yellow Soyombo symbol on the hoist of the blue band. It was officially adopted on 29 October 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The State Anthem of the Republic of Buryatia is one of the state symbols of Buryatia, together with the flag and coat of arms of the Russian federal subject. It was first used unofficially for the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, between 1983 and 1990 titled "Song of the Native Land" with original lyrics in Russian.
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