# MAD Symbol (madsymbol.com)

> The MAD Symbol is an independent proposal for a currency symbol for the Moroccan dirham (ISO 4217 code: MAD), designed by El Mehdi Laaroussi, a Moroccan creative director based in Dubai. It is built on the Arabic letter Dal (د), the first letter of "dirham", drawn in the manner of Maghrebi calligraphy and crossed by two parallel bars set at 24°, taken from zellige geometry. It is NOT an official symbol: it has not been adopted or endorsed by Bank Al-Maghrib or any Moroccan public institution, and the project is not affiliated with them.

Key facts:

- Name: MAD Symbol. French: "le symbole du dirham". Arabic: رمز الدرهم.
- Creator: El Mehdi Laaroussi (Arabic: المهدي العروصي), creative director, studio: https://lemehdi.studio
- Status: independent, personal design proposal. Not official, not adopted, not affiliated with Bank Al-Maghrib.
- Versions: V1 presented in 2025 (covered by the press). V2, from 2026, refines the drawing in three weights (Light, Regular, SemiBold) designed to pair with the Bricolage Grotesque typeface.
- Usage rule: the symbol goes before the amount with no space character (in French: [symbol]1 500,00; in English: [symbol]1,500.00), and replaces the code: never write the symbol and "MAD" together with a number. MAD stays the ISO code in data and APIs.
- Font: "MAD Symbol" web font, glyph on the Private Use Area code point U+E000 (not a Unicode-encoded currency sign).
- License: MAD Symbol License 2.0. Free to use unmodified, including commercially, with credit to "El Mehdi Laaroussi (madsymbol.com)". Modifying or redrawing the symbol, registering it as a trademark or design, selling the files, official adoption by a government or central bank, and use as a company logo all require the author's written permission.
- How to credit: "Dirham symbol: El Mehdi Laaroussi (madsymbol.com)".

## Main pages

- [The Dirham Symbol (French, original)](https://madsymbol.com/fr/): the full presentation, covering the story, three heritages, construction, weights, V1 vs V2, usage rules, real-world mockups, developer kit and press.
- [MAD Symbol License 2.0 (French)](https://madsymbol.com/fr/licence/): terms of use.
- [The Dirham Symbol (English)](https://madsymbol.com/en/): the same page in English.
- [MAD Symbol License 2.0 (English)](https://madsymbol.com/en/license/)
- [رمز الدرهم (Arabic)](https://madsymbol.com/ar/): the same page in Arabic.
- [ترخيص MAD Symbol 2.0 (Arabic)](https://madsymbol.com/ar/license/)

## Downloads

- [Developer kit (ZIP)](https://madsymbol.com/kit/mad-symbol-kit.zip): SVG, PNG, OTF and WOFF2 fonts, CSS, README and license.
- [Symbol PNG, 2048 px](https://madsymbol.com/kit/png/mad-v2-regular-red-2048.png)
- [License text (TXT, EN/FR/AR)](https://madsymbol.com/kit/LICENSE.txt)

## Press coverage

- [Morocco World News, January 2026: "El Mehdi Laaroussi Introduces Conceptual Symbol for Morocco’s Dirham"](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2026/01/276479/el-mehdi-laaroussi-introduces-conceptual-symbol-for-moroccos-dirham/)
- [H-NEWS (آش نيوز), January 2026: «رمز بصري جديد مقترح للدرهم المغربي»](https://hnews.ma/98803/)
- [Meknès Press (مكناس بريس), December 2025: profile of El Mehdi Laaroussi](http://www.meknespress.com/articles/details/24717/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%87%D8%AF%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B5%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%83%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%86.html)

## Optional

- [Full reference text](https://madsymbol.com/llms-full.txt): the complete factual description of the project in one file.
- [Sitemap](https://madsymbol.com/sitemap.xml)