what is the sikh symbol?

[curioustoknow]

I looking at it and I think I see swords, am I right? What else is in it? Where did it come from?

[taran0]

two swords left and right - one represents the physical aspect and one represents the spiritual aspect of our being, the double edged sword in the middle faces both ways and represents god as being manifest in both the physical and spiritual - circular chakar represents the unending nature of life, there is no beginning and there is no end as vaheguru is beyond birth and death.

we have a body and we have a soul and they cannot be seperated they are bound to each other, until the end of this life, the body rots away and recycles and the soul moves into a new body.

nature reflects this clearly as the cycle of nature continually recycles and maintains a balance, The Guru says that to successfully traverse and escape the cycle one must understand and conquer his spiritual and physical aspects and through devotion merge into the one.

[curioustoknow]

Oooooooh cool :-) thank you for explaining that :-)

[TheFancyBanana]

circle weapon the chakkar can also represent the "degh" the cauldron of the langar where free food is given to all. a sikh phrase "degh tegh fateh". word "degh" means "large cooking pot" or "cauldron" or an "offering". The word "tegh" means "sword" or "kirpan". The term "degh tegh" refers to the concept of "degh" which is the serving of food to the community as in respect of the langar; and "tegh" which is the protecting the liberty and rights of each member within the community.

[KhalistaniGunMan]

the modern khanda is not the standard of the guru or khalsa..traditional standard of the khalsa was sword, shield and kataar

[Jangal Da]

KhalistaniGunMan is absolutely correct re kirpan/katar/sphere. Worth looking into how our symbols have evolved over time. As far as I am aware Guruji never expressly gave us a particular symbol/ standard. The ashtbhuja dhuja (as per KahlistaniGunMan's avtar) is believed to be the standard of Dasmesh pita and is preserved at Sri Hazur Sahib. Nihang dals are often seen with blue Nishans with the IkhOnkaar symbol in the centre in white.

However the questioner sounds like he was asking about the Khanda symbol seen on most Nishan Sahibs that has been our most consistent symbol since the Guru Panth Khalsa jio settled on it in the 1920s.

Tarun0 has given a good reply about its meaning.