Chapter I
What it means
The three dots are the ratnatraya The three jewels of Jainism: right faith, right knowledge and right conduct. Glossary, the “three jewels” that together make the path to liberation: right faith, or right view, in the Jain teaching; right knowledge of reality; and right conduct, above all non-violence. Jains stress that all three are needed together.
Above them, the crescent stands for the siddhashila, the place at the very top of the universe where liberated souls dwell, and the dot above it for a liberated soul, free from all karma, resting in perfect knowledge and bliss.
Chapter II
Where it comes from
The three jewels are set out in the Tattvartha Sutra, a foundational Jain text of the early centuries CE, which opens: “Right faith, right knowledge and right conduct together are the path to liberation.” The dots and crescent were drawn in worship long before they became part of the common Jain emblem in 1974–75.
Chapter III
Where you see it today
The sign is drawn with rice on temple tables, painted on walls and printed on Jain books and flags, usually above a swastika, the Jain sign of the four realms of rebirth.