The AED is the currency abbreviation for the United Arab Emirates dirham, the official currency of Dubai and other Emirates. It is often presented with the symbol Dhs or DH. The United Arab Emirates Dirham has been used since 1973, when it replaced several currencies, such as the Dubai riyal and the Qatar riyal.

The United Arab Emirates dirham is made up of 100 fuloos, which is plural for fils. A fils is also the sub-unit for the Kuwaiti dinars, Iraqi dinars, Bahraini dinars and the Yemeni rial. The dirham is available in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000. The 1 dirham unit exists in coin form only. In the early 20th century, the United Arab Emirates began using British Sovereign gold coins and Maria Theresa Thalers; other currencies, such as the Indian Rupee, also circulated within the country. In 1959, they adopted the Persian Gulf Rupee, issued by the central bank of India, at a value equal to the Indian Rupee.

The Indian Rupee devaluation of 1966 directly affected the value of the Gulf Rupee, so the UAE responded by introducing its own currency. They adopted the Saudi Riyal as an interim currency and that same year, they replaced it with the Qatar and Dubai Riyal at par. All the emirates - with the exception of Abu Dhabi, which used the Bahrain Dinar - used the Qatar and Dubai Riyal until 1973, when the United Arab Emirates Dirham was established. In 1978, the Dirham adopted a fixed exchange rate to the International Monetary Fund's special drawing rights. It was then re-pegged to the US Dollar in 1997 at a rate of 1 USD to 3.6725 AED.