The state emblem of India is adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. In the original, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell shaped lotus. Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the Capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (Dharma Chakra).
In the state emblem, adopted by the Government of India on 26 January, 1950, only three lions are visible, the fourth being hidden from view.
The wheel appears in relief in the centre of the abacus with a bull on right and a horse on left and the outlines of other wheels on extreme right and left. The bell-shaped lotus has been omitted.
The words ‘Satyameva Jayate’ from ‘Mundaka Upanishad’, meaning ‘Truth Alone Triumphs’, are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script.