Military grave marker, and Asian currency symbol

Most people will recognise this as a Japanese Yen or Chinese Yuan currency sign, but it's also the shape of some old European military grave markers.

One symbol represents the cost of war, while the other represents the purchasing power to wage it.

The design combines the Forked Cross and the Latin Cross, or a Forked Cross with a suppedaneum attached.

Photos © by Egbert Sandrock, Germany
(Click either photo to enlarge)

The photos on the right were taken by WWI photographer of II. Bayerisches AOK at a cemetery somewhere in France. They are temporary military grave markers, bearing the inscription "Freund und Feind vereint" (Friends and foes together) and dated 1914/15.

Similar stone WWII versions have been seen in the Commonwealth Graves Commission cemetery in Oignies, northeast France.

The design is also logo of the 16th Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht during World War II, and later the 17th Panzer Division.

Such grave markers typically have one horizontal bar, whereas insignia on uniform patches and documents typically have two horizontal bars.

Similarly the Japanese Yen is often seen with two horizontal bars (¥). Whether there is one or two bars, they appear immediately after the "V", unlike the grave markers.

One symbol represents the cost of war, while the other represents the purchasing power to wage it.