MADDHد.م.

Independent proposal · Version 2

The dirham deserves a sign.

A currency symbol for Morocco, born from the letter Dal, Maghrebi calligraphy and zellige geometry.

Independent proposal · Not an official symbol · Not affiliated with Bank Al-Maghrib

Scroll

02The story

The dollar has its $. The euro has its €. The pound, the yen and the rupee each have a sign. The Moroccan dirham is still written with letters: MAD, DH, د.م. This project sets out to give it a face.

The story

It all starts with Dal (د), the first letter of the word “dirham”. Drawn in the manner of Maghrebi calligraphy, its gesture opens into a generous curve and closes on a dot, like the drop of ink at the tip of the qalam. Two parallel strokes cross it, slanted along the angles of zellige: the shared mark of currency signs, from the euro to the yen. Unveiled in 2025 and covered by Morocco World News, the first version started the conversation. V2 refines the drawing and comes in three weights, designed to pair with Bricolage Grotesque.

2025 First version unveiled
MWN Covered by Morocco World News
V2 Three weights, an open kit

03Three heritages

Three heritages, one gesture

Calligrapher’s desk: reed pens, a brass inkwell and a sheet of paper

Zellige mosaic: eight-pointed stars in green, blue and ochre

01 / 03

The Dal

The first letter of “dirham” in Arabic. Its open form, resting on the line, gives the symbol its silhouette: a hook that welcomes the amount that follows.

02 / 03

Maghrebi calligraphy

The stroke follows the reed qalam: thick and thin, a wide curve that tightens, and a final dot like a drop of ink.

03 / 03

Zellige

The two bars borrow the geometric rigour of Fes zellige. Parallel, as in every currency sign, they are slanted at 24°.

The crafts behind the sign

Illustrative images

Hand-cut zellige
Chased brass
Gebs, carved plaster

Carved cedar
Chouara tanneries, Fes

04Construction

Every stroke follows a rule

The symbol is built on a simple grid, legible from the smallest screen to the largest sign.

1The eight-pointed zellige rosette
2Two parallel bars, slanted at 24°
3The dot: Ø 142 units, the base module
4The calligraphic axis of the Dal

Grid derived from the V2 drawing.

05Three weights

Three weights, one voice

Light, Regular and SemiBold, drawn to pair with Bricolage Grotesque 24pt, from the price tag to the giant screen.

Light 300

Large formats, display

349.90 Moroccan dirhams
Regular 400

Interfaces, running text

349.90 Moroccan dirhams
SemiBold 600

Totals, small sizes

349.90 Moroccan dirhams

06V1 → V2

From V1 to V2

Drag to compare both versions on the same artboard.

V1 · 2025

V2 · 2026

01
Narrower and better centred: the width goes from 889 to 794 units (−11%).
02
Steeper bars: from about 20° to 24°.
03
The top bar becomes the highest point; the head of the Dal is lowered.
04
The hooked curl gives way to a true dot, more legible at small sizes.
05
A rounder bowl, a more restrained tail.
06
Same density: V2 Regular keeps the typographic colour of V1.
07
Optical compensation: the bars get thinner as the weight increases.
08
A cleaner drawing: 61 segments become 49.

07Usage rules

Using it well

Clear spaceKeep at least one dot diameter of empty space around the symbol.

Minimum size12 px on screen, 3 mm in print. Light: 16 px minimum.

Do

1,500.00 Moroccan dirhams

The symbol before the amount, no space: the gap is built into the drawing.

−86.50 Moroccan dirhams+1,200.00 Moroccan dirhams

The sign (+ or −) goes before the symbol.

349.90 Moroccan dirhams

One colour, the text colour, on light or dark backgrounds.

24.00 Moroccan dirhams24.00 Moroccan dirhams

The symbol’s weight follows the weight of the text.

Don’t

Never the symbol and the code together with an amount.

Never after the amount.

Don’t distort, slant or outline the symbol.

Don’t mix V1 and V2.

08In use

In real life

A bank, a shop, a payment terminal: the symbol put to the test of everyday life.

01/05 Mobile banking

02/05 E-commerce · Product page

03/05 E-commerce · Checkout

04/05 Payment terminal

05/05 Billboards

The souk, in dirhams

A demo shop window: Moroccan products with their prices shown in the symbol. Demo · sample prices

01Meknes

Saffron leather babouches

349.90 Moroccan dirhams ~~420.00 Moroccan dirhams~~
02Marrakech

Engraved tea glasses, set of 6

145.00 Moroccan dirhams
03Essaouira

Pure argan oil, 100 ml

220.00 Moroccan dirhams
04Safi

Glazed terracotta tagine

189.00 Moroccan dirhams
05Middle Atlas

Beni Ourain rug, 2 × 3 m

4,800.00 Moroccan dirhams
06Meknes

Pierced brass lantern

640.00 Moroccan dirhams ~~780.00 Moroccan dirhams~~
07Fes

Eucalyptus black soap

35.00 Moroccan dirhams
08Meknes

Chased brass tray

1,250.00 Moroccan dirhams

09Developer kit

Use it today

A 1 KB web font, SVGs, PNGs and copy-paste code. Free to use as is, with credit to the author.

MAD Symbol License 2.0: free use of the symbol as is, with the credit “Dirham symbol: El Mehdi Laaroussi”. Any modification, redrawing, registration or official adoption requires the author’s written permission. Read the full license

Playground

1,500.00

Copy-paste code

<link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/mad-symbol.css">

<span class="price" dir="ltr">
  <span aria-hidden="true">&#xE000;</span>1,500.00
  <span class="sr-only">Moroccan dirhams</span>
</span>

@font-face {
  font-family: "MAD Symbol";
  src: url("/fonts/mad-symbol-400.woff2") format("woff2");
  font-weight: 400;
  font-display: swap;
  unicode-range: U+E000; /* only the symbol */
}

.price {
  font-family: "MAD Symbol", "Bricolage Grotesque", sans-serif;
  font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
  direction: ltr;          /* symbol always left of the digits */
  unicode-bidi: isolate;
}

const SEP = { fr: [" ", ","], en: [",", "."], ar: [".", ","] };

export function formatMAD(amount, lang = "fr") {
  const [group, decimal] = SEP[lang] ?? SEP.fr;
  const [int, dec] = Math.abs(amount).toFixed(2).split(".");
  const num = int.replace(/\B(?=(\d{3})+(?!\d))/g, group) + decimal + dec;
  return (amount < 0 ? "−" : "") + "" + num;
}

formatMAD(1500); // "ꝺ1 500,00"

<span class="price" dir="ltr">
  <svg class="mad" viewBox="0 0 1000 1000" aria-hidden="true">
    <path d="…"/> <!-- mad-v2-regular.svg -->
  </svg>1,500.00
  <span class="sr-only">Moroccan dirhams</span>
</span>

<style>
  .mad { width: .78em; height: .78em; vertical-align: -.06em; margin-inline-end: .1em; fill: currentColor; }
</style>

10Support

Make the symbol real

A sign only exists if it circulates. Share the proposal, use the kit, talk about it.

The dirham deserves a sign.

The story

The Dal

Maghrebi calligraphy

Zellige

The crafts behind the sign

Every stroke follows a rule

✓ Do

✕ Don’t

01/05 Mobile banking

02/05 E-commerce · Product page

03/05 E-commerce · Checkout

04/05 Payment terminal

05/05 Billboards

Saffron leather babouches

Engraved tea glasses, set of 6

Pure argan oil, 100 ml

Glazed terracotta tagine

Beni Ourain rug, 2 × 3 m

Pierced brass lantern

Eucalyptus black soap

Chased brass tray

Playground

Copy-paste code

Accessibility

In the press

Share the initiative

Do

Don’t