On 2 October 1995,[2] the government of Eduard Shevardnadze replaced the provisional coupon currency with the Lari, at a rate of one million to one.

[3] In choosing the winning sign, the commission gave priority to the samples based on the Georgian Mkhedruli character and made a point of the following criteria: conception, design, accordance with Georgian alphabet, existence of elements marking the currency, ease of construction, and observance of requests and recommendations determined by competition rules.

It is common international practice for a currency sign to consist of a letter, crossed by one or two parallel lines.

The so-called “leg” of the letter, represented by a horizontal line, is a necessary attribute of the sign, adding monumental stability to the upper dynamic arc.

[11][12][13] Between November 2016 and October 2019 the National Bank of Georgia released five banknotes (in denominations of ₾5, ₾10, ₾20, ₾50, and ₾100), composing a new complete set.

[15] The National Bank of Georgia announced that banknotes of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 lari issued between 1995 and 1999 will no longer be legal tender on 1 January 2022.