Arched-hill symbol
The Arched-hill symbol is an ancient Indian coin motif. It usually shows three arched hills and sometimes has a crescent or a star on top. There are variations with different numbers of hills or other symbols above the hills.
Most scholars believe the three-arched hill form began during the Maurya Empire (roughly the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE). By about 220 BCE it appears regularly on Taxila coins, and from around 185 BCE it is often shown with other figures like elephants and lions. In Shunga-period coins the three-arched hill can appear among many other symbols, such as the Nandipada, tree-in-railing, an elephant, or an empty cross.
The symbol is generally thought to represent a Buddhist Chaitya (a Buddhist shrine or stupa). Some scholars also suggest it was an imperial symbol of the Mauryas. After the Maurya era, the symbol appears in post-Mauryan coinage in Gandhara and Shunga contexts as well.
Gallery notes (short): the symbol appears on Sunga coins, Mauryan coins, and Taxila local coinage (210–185 BCE). It also shows up in Indo-Greek coinage (a six-arched hill with a star on some coins). Variants even appear in modern coats of arms, such as a six-arched hill on Pope John Paul I’s coat of arms.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 17:35 (CET).