Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Surprise meSurprise meSubscribe
Encyclopedia

Official script

Designated writing system of a jurisdiction

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
3 min read
Source updated May 16, 2026

An official script is a writing system that is specifically designated to be official in the constitutions or other applicable laws of countries, states, and other jurisdictions. Akin to an official language, an official script is much rarer. It is used primarily where an official language is in practice written with two or more scripts. As, in these languages, use of script often has cultural or political connotations, proclamation of an official script is sometimes criticized as having a goal of influencing culture or politics or both. Desired effects also may include easing education, communication and some other aspects of life.

01List of official scripts

Below is a partial list of official scripts used in different countries. Those in italics are states that have limited international recognition.

This list does not cover local variations of international scripts, such as which diacritics are used.

The letters of the Indic official scripts of the Indian Republic used by the official languages of India, bottom row:[[Bengali-Assamese script|Bengali/Assamese]], [[Telugu-Kannada alphabet|Kannada/Telugu]], [[Ol Chiki]], [[Devanagari]], [[Gurmukhi]]), [[Urdu alphabet]]"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwDw">(top row: Tamil, Malayalam, Odia, Gujarati, Meitei bottom row:Bengali/Assamese, Kannada/Telugu, Ol Chiki, Devanagari, Gurmukhi), Urdu alphabet These are the examples of the official scripts.
The letters of the Indic official scripts of the Indian Republic used by the official languages of India, bottom row:[[Bengali-Assamese script|Bengali/Assamese]], [[Telugu-Kannada alphabet|Kannada/Telugu]], [[Ol Chiki]], [[Devanagari]], [[Gurmukhi]]), [[Urdu alphabet]]"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwDw">(top row: Tamil, Malayalam, Odia, Gujarati, Meitei bottom row:Bengali/Assamese, Kannada/Telugu, Ol Chiki, Devanagari, Gurmukhi), Urdu alphabet These are the examples of the official scripts.

02Historical

  • In the USSR, numerous languages were latinized during the 1920s-1930s. In the late 1930s the Latinization campaign was canceled and all newly romanized languages were converted to Cyrillic.
Watch videos about Official scriptExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Official script”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.

Continue exploring

Related topics

Official language

An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, the establishment of an official language might also place restrictions on the use of other languages in those capacities. Designated rights of an official language can be created in written form or by historic usage.

Spelling reform

A spelling reform is a deliberate, often authoritatively sanctioned or mandated change to spelling rules. Proposals for such reform are fairly common, and over the years, many languages have undergone such reforms.