The motto of the Supreme Court has never been ‘Satyameva Jayate’; It has always been ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’
A post claims that during the tenure of former Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud, the Supreme Court replaced its motto from ‘Satyameva Jayate’ to ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’. It further states that the current Chief Justice, B. R. Gavai, has restored the original emblem of the Supreme Court, which features the motto ‘Satyameva Jayate’ (here, here, and here). In this article, let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: The current Chief Justice of India, B. R. Gavai, has restored the original logo of the Supreme Court, featuring the motto ‘Satyameva Jayate’, which was changed to ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’ during the tenure of Chief Justice Chandrachud.
Fact: The claim that the current Chief Justice of India, B. R. Gavai, has restored the original logo of the Supreme Court featuring the motto ‘Satyameva Jayate’ is false. The motto of the Supreme Court has never been ‘Satyameva Jayate’. It has always been ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’, which translates to “Where there is Dharma, there is victory.” It is noteworthy that during the tenure of Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud, on 01 September 2024, as part of the Court’s 75th anniversary celebrations, a new logo and flag of the Supreme Court were unveiled by President Droupadi Murmu. The new logo featured the Ashoka Chakra, the Supreme Court building, the Constitution of India, and the motto ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’ in Devanagari script. while, the old logo displayed the Chakra (Dharma Chakra—its design is derived from the wheel depicted on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka, with 32 spokes), the official Emblem of India—the Lion Capital of Ashoka, which features four Asiatic lions standing back-to-back—and the same motto, ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’, in Devanagari script. However, in May 2025, the Supreme Court of India, under Chief Justice B. R. Gavai, announced the restoration of the earlier logo, i.e., the one that was in use prior to September 2024. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Through a relevant keyword search, we found that the motto of the Supreme Court has never been ‘Satyameva Jayate’. It has always been ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’.
During this search, we found that on 01 September 2024, as part of the Court’s 75th anniversary celebrations, a new logo and flag of the Supreme Court were unveiled by the then Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud and President Droupadi Murmu (here, here). The new flag and insignia, symbolising justice and democracy, were conceptualised by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi. The newly introduced blue insignia featured a blue background displaying the Ashoka Chakra, the Supreme Court building, the Constitution of India, and the motto ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’ inscribed in Devanagari script. In contrast, the previous logo, used before September 2024, included the Dharma Chakra—whose design is derived from the wheel on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka, with 32 spokes—the official Emblem of India (the Lion Capital of Ashoka, featuring four Asiatic lions standing back-to-back), and the same motto, ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’, in Devanagari script.
It should be noted that Justice D. Y. Chandrachud took over as the 50th Chief Justice of India on 09 November 2022 and demitted office on 10 November 2024. Upon reviewing archived versions of the Supreme Court’s official website, we found that the motto ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’ was consistently present even prior to Justice Chandrachud’s tenure (here, here, and here).
The new blue logo incorporating the same motto, appeared on the website after September 2024 (here, here).
In October 2024, the Supreme Court of India unveiled a redesigned ‘Lady Justice’ statue, marking a notable shift away from colonial symbolism. Traditionally depicted with a blindfold and a sword, the new statue features Lady Justice with open eyes, holding the Constitution of India in place of the sword (here, here).
Following these developments, the Executive Committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association on 22 October 2024, passed a resolution objecting to the unilateral changes made to the emblem and the Lady Justice statue without consulting the Bar members.
In May 2025 (here, here, and here), the Supreme Court of India, under Chief Justice B. R. Gavai, announced the restoration of the earlier logo, which includes the Chakra (Dharma Chakra—its design is derived from the wheel depicted on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka, with 32 spokes), the Emblem of India, and the motto ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’ in Devanagari script. The Court also announced the removal of glass partitions from its corridors. These decisions were seen as reversals of changes introduced during the tenure of former Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud.
A comparison between the new logo (emblem), unveiled in September 2024 during the tenure of former Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud, and the current logo (the original emblem) of the Supreme Court can be seen below.
We also reviewed archived versions of the Supreme Court’s website dating back to 2010, where the motto ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’ is clearly visible. Even judgments from that period consistently featured this motto in the Supreme Court logo (here, here). From all of this, it is evident that the motto of the Supreme Court was never changed from ‘Satyameva Jayate’ to ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’. In fact, ‘Satyameva Jayate’ has never been the motto of the Supreme Court. The official motto has always been ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’, which translates to “Where there is Dharma, there is victory”.
When a similar post previously went viral, falsely claiming that the Supreme Court’s motto had been changed from ‘Satyameva Jayate’ to ‘Yato Dharmastato Jayah’, Factly published a fact-check article debunking the claim.
To sum it up, the claim that the current Chief Justice of India, B. R. Gavai, has restored the original logo of the Supreme Court featuring the motto ‘Satyameva Jayate’ is false.