IEC 62648:2012

Graphical symbols for use on equipment - Guidelines for the inclusion of graphical symbols in IEC publications

IEC 62648:2012 provides guidelines to ensure that graphical symbols for use on equipment in IEC product publications are consistent with the requirements of horizontal standard IEC 60417, and ISO 7000. This document is intended to be used by any technical committees and subcommittees to develop graphical symbols for use on equipment for inclusion in their product publications. It has the status of a horizontal standard in accordance with IEC Guide 108.

Symboles graphiques utilisables sur le matériel - Lignes directrices pour l'introduction de symboles graphiques dans les publications de la CEI

La CEI 62648:2012 fournit des lignes directrices destinées à garantir que les symboles graphiques utilisables sur le matériel dans les publications de produits de la CEI sont conformes aux exigences de la norme horizontale CEI 60417, et de l'ISO 7000. Ce document est destiné à être utilisé par tout comité d'études et sous-comité pour élaborer des symboles graphiques utilisables sur le matériel à introduire dans des publications de produits. Elle a le statut de norme horizontale conformément au Guide IEC 108.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 13-Jun-2012
• ICS: 01 - GENERALITIES. TERMINOLOGY. STANDARDIZATION. DOCUMENTATION
• ICS: 01.080.40 - Graphical symbols for use on electrical and electronics engineering drawings, diagrams, charts and in relevant technical product documentation
• Technical Committee: SC 3C - Graphical symbols for use on equipment
• Current Stage: DELPUB - Deleted Publication
• Start Date: 29-Oct-2021
• Completion Date: 27-Sep-2022

Relations

• Amended By: IEC 62648:2012/AMD1:2015 - Amendment 1 - Graphical symbols for use on equipment - Guidelines for the inclusion of graphical symbols in IEC publications
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023
• Revised: IEC 62648:2022 - Graphical symbols for use on equipment - Guidelines for the inclusion of graphical symbols in IEC publications
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC 62648 ®
Edition 1.0 2012-06
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
HORIZONTAL STANDARD
NORME HORIZONTALE
Graphical symbols for use on equipment – Guidelines for the inclusion of
graphical symbols in IEC publications

Symboles graphiques utilisables sur le matériel – Lignes directrices pour
l’introduction de symboles graphiques dans les publications de la CEI

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester.
If you have any questions about IEC copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication,
please contact the address below or your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

Droits de reproduction réservés. Sauf indication contraire, aucune partie de cette publication ne peut être reproduite ni
utilisée sous quelque forme que ce soit et par aucun procédé, électronique ou mécanique, y compris la photocopie et les
microfilms, sans l'accord écrit de la CEI ou du Comité national de la CEI du pays du demandeur.
Si vous avez des questions sur le copyright de la CEI ou si vous désirez obtenir des droits supplémentaires sur cette
publication, utilisez les coordonnées ci-après ou contactez le Comité national de la CEI de votre pays de résidence.

IEC Central Office Tel.: [phone]
3, rue de Varembé Fax: [phone]
CH-1211 Geneva 20 [e-mail]
Switzerland www.iec.ch
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.

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IEC 62648 ®
Edition 1.0 2012-06
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
HORIZONTAL STANDARD
NORME HORIZONTALE
Graphical symbols for use on equipment – Guidelines for the inclusion of

graphical symbols in IEC publications

Symboles graphiques utilisables sur le matériel – Lignes directrices pour

l’introduction de symboles graphiques dans les publications de la CEI

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
CODE PRIX R
ICS 01.080.40 ISBN 978-2-83220-097-1

– 2 – 62648  IEC:2012
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 7
4 Basic requirement for graphical symbols for use on equipment to be included in
IEC publications . 9
5 Principal guidelines . 9
5.1 General . 9
5.2 Coherency of graphical symbols for use on equipment . 10
5.3 Procedures to develop product publications including graphical symbols for
use on equipment . 10
Annex A (normative) Hard and soft procedures . 11
Annex B (informative) Examples of applications of graphical symbols for use on
equipment . 13
Annex C (informative) IEC 60417 – Proposal form for new graphical symbols . 17
Bibliography . 19

Table A.1 – Step-by-step approach to the hard procedures . 11
Table B.1 – Examples of graphical symbols for use on equipment as safety symbols to
form safety signs . 14
Table B.2 – Example of safety related graphical symbol for use on equipment and
safety sign . 15
Table B.3 – Examples of negation of the meaning of graphical symbols for use on
equipment . 16

62648  IEC:2012 – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
GRAPHICAL SYMBOLS FOR USE ON EQUIPMENT –
GUIDELINES FOR THE INCLUSION OF GRAPHICAL
SYMBOLS IN IEC PUBLICATIONS
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 62648 has been prepared by subcommittee 3C: Graphical symbols
for use on equipment, of IEC technical committee 3: Information structures, documentation
and graphical symbols.
It has the status of a horizontal standard in accordance with IEC Guide 108.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
3C/1778/FDIS 3C/1793/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

– 4 – 62648  IEC:2012
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct
understanding of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a
colour printer.
62648  IEC:2012 – 5 –
INTRODUCTION
A graphical symbol is defined as a visually perceptible figure with a particular meaning used
to transmit information independently of language. Graphical symbols are used on equipment
for a wide range of purposes. The understanding of such symbols can be improved by
consistent design. This is particularly important where families of symbols are used in one
location or on similar equipment. Good design also helps to maintain the legibility of graphical
symbols when they are reduced to small dimensions for application. Thus, there is a need for
those involved in technical works to collaborate with experts in SC 3C responsible for
developing and maintaining graphical symbols for use on equipment to be standardized in the
horizontal standard IEC 60417.
This international standard is intended for committees working on graphical symbols for use
on equipment to be included in their product publications. It provides them with guidelines on
how to create their own graphical symbols for use on equipment as well as on how to consult
SC 3C so that these symbols are also included in IEC 60417.
This international standard provides commonly agreeable procedures among SC 3C and other
committees developing product publications including graphical symbols for use on equipment
in accordance with IEC Guide 108.
...

IEC 62648 ®
Edition 1.1 2015-12
CONSOLIDATED VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
HORIZONTAL STANDARD
NORME HORIZONTALE
Graphical symbols for use on equipment – Guidelines for the inclusion of
graphical symbols in IEC publications

Symboles graphiques utilisables sur le matériel – Lignes directrices pour
l’introduction de symboles graphiques dans les publications de la CEI

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from

either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or

your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

Droits de reproduction réservés. Sauf indication contraire, aucune partie de cette publication ne peut être reproduite
ni utilisée sous quelque forme que ce soit et par aucun procédé, électronique ou mécanique, y compris la photocopie

et les microfilms, sans l'accord écrit de l'IEC ou du Comité national de l'IEC du pays du demandeur. Si vous avez des

questions sur le copyright de l'IEC ou si vous désirez obtenir des droits supplémentaires sur cette publication, utilisez
les coordonnées ci-après ou contactez le Comité national de l'IEC de votre pays de résidence.

IEC Central Office Tel.: [phone]
3, rue de Varembé Fax: [phone]
CH-1211 Geneva 20 [e-mail]
Switzerland www.iec.ch
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.

IEC Catalogue - webstore.iec.ch/catalogue Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
The stand-alone application for consulting the entire The world's leading online dictionary of electronic and
bibliographical information on IEC International Standards, electrical terms containing more than 30 000 terms and
Technical Specifications, Technical Reports and other definitions in English and French, with equivalent terms in 15
documents. Available for PC, Mac OS, Android Tablets and additional languages. Also known as the International
iPad. Electrotechnical Vocabulary (IEV) online.

IEC publications search - www.iec.ch/searchpub IEC Glossary - std.iec.ch/glossary
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a More than 60 000 electrotechnical terminology entries in
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical English and French extracted from the Terms and Definitions
committee,…). It also gives information on projects, replaced clause of IEC publications issued since 2002. Some entries
and withdrawn publications. have been collected from earlier publications of IEC TC 37,

77, 86 and CISPR.
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also once a month by email. need further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
Centre: [e-mail].
A propos de l'IEC
La Commission Electrotechnique Internationale (IEC) est la première organisation mondiale qui élabore et publie des
Normes internationales pour tout ce qui a trait à l'électricité, à l'électronique et aux technologies apparentées.

A propos des publications IEC
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[e-mail].
IEC 62648 ®
Edition 1.1 2015-12
CONSOLIDATED VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
HORIZONTAL STANDARD
NORME HORIZONTALE
Graphical symbols for use on equipment – Guidelines for the inclusion of

graphical symbols in IEC publications

Symboles graphiques utilisables sur le matériel – Lignes directrices pour

l’introduction de symboles graphiques dans les publications de la CEI

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 01.080.40 ISBN 978-2-8322-3105-0

IEC 62648 ®
Edition 1.1 2015-12
CONSOLIDATED VERSION
REDLINE VERSION
VERSION REDLINE
colour
inside
HORIZONTAL STANDARD
NORME HORIZONTALE
Graphical symbols for use on equipment – Guidelines for the inclusion of
graphical symbols in IEC publications

Symboles graphiques utilisables sur le matériel – Lignes directrices pour
l’introduction de symboles graphiques dans les publications de la CEI

– 2 – IEC 62648:2012+AMD1:2015 CSV

 IEC 2015
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3

INTRODUCTION . 5

1 Scope . 6

2 Normative references . 6

3 Terms and definitions . 7

4 Basic requirement for graphical symbols for use on equipment to be included in

IEC publications . 9

5 Principal guidelines . 9
5.1 General . 9
5.2 Coherency of graphical symbols for use on equipment . 10
5.3 Procedures to develop product publications including graphical symbols for
use on equipment . 10
Annex A (normative) Hard and soft procedures . 11
Annex B (informative) Examples of applications of graphical symbols for use on
equipment . 13
Annex C (informative) IEC 60417 – Proposal form for new graphical symbols . 18
Bibliography . 20

Table A.1 – Step-by-step approach to the hard procedures . 11
Table B.1 – Examples of graphical symbols for use on equipment as safety symbols to
form safety signs . 14
Table B.2 – Examples of safety related graphical symbols for use on equipment and
safety signs . 15
Table B.3 – Examples of negation of the meaning of graphical symbols for use on
equipment . 17

 IEC 2015
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

____________
GRAPHICAL SYMBOLS FOR USE ON EQUIPMENT –

GUIDELINES FOR THE INCLUSION OF GRAPHICAL

SYMBOLS IN IEC PUBLICATIONS
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC
Publication(s)”). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This consolidated version of the official IEC Standard and its amendment has been prepared
for user convenience.
IEC 62648 edition 1.1 contains the first edition (2012-06) [documents 3C/1778/FDIS and 3C/1793/
RVD] and its amendment 1 (2015-12) [documents 3C/1959/CDV and 3C/2077/RVC].
In this Redline version, a vertical line in the margin shows where the technical content is
modified by amendment 1. Additions are in green text, deletions are in strikethrough red text. A
separate Final version with all changes accepted is available in this publication.

– 4 – IEC 62648:2012+AMD1:2015 CSV

 IEC 2015
International Standard IEC 62648 has been prepared by subcommittee 3C: Graphical symbols
for use on equipment, of IEC technical committee 3: Information structures, documentation

and graphical symbols.
It has the status of a horizontal standard in acco
...