Vegan Symbols on Food
Certified vegan marks, the vegetarian society marks, and India's mandatory green and brown dots, which are the only ones here a producer cannot leave off. Each entry says what the mark verifies and where vegan and vegetarian part ways.
The voluntary marks
| Mark | Owner | What it verifies | What it does not |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vegan Trademark, a stylized V with a plant growing from it | The Vegan Society, UK | No animal ingredients at any stage, no animal testing, and a declaration on GM inputs | Not organic, not allergen-free, and it does not mean the factory handles no dairy |
| Certified Vegan, a V with a heart | Vegan Awareness Foundation, US | No animal ingredients and no animal-derived processing aids, no animal testing | Same caveats. It is not a cross-contact guarantee |
| V-Label | European Vegetarian Union | Issued in separate grades, so the word under the V is the load-bearing part | The vegetarian grade permits dairy and eggs. Reading the logo shape alone will mislead you |
| Vegetarian Society Approved, a green seedling | The Vegetarian Society, UK | Vegetarian and vegan variants exist under the same seedling | Check the wording beneath the mark before assuming which one you are holding |
India, where the dots are law
India’s packaging and labeling rules require a symbol on every packaged food, enforced by the FSSAI. Vegetarian food carries a filled green circle inside a green square outline. Non-vegetarian food carries a brown or maroon mark inside a matching square; the non-vegetarian mark was revised, so packs in circulation show both a filled circle and a filled triangle. Food containing egg is classed as non-vegetarian under those rules, which surprises visitors used to European conventions.
Because it is mandatory, this mark behaves unlike every other mark on this page. Its absence is a labeling failure. With a voluntary mark, absence means nothing at all, because plenty of vegan products simply never paid for certification.
Where vegetarian and vegan diverge
- Honey
- Dairy and egg derivatives: whey, casein, caseinate, lactose, albumen
- Gelatin, in sweets, capsules and some yogurts
- Isinglass and other fining agents used to clear beer and wine
- Cochineal and carmine, listed as E120
- Shellac, used as a glaze
- L-cysteine, used as a dough conditioner
- Vitamin D3, commonly derived from lanolin
- Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids, where the source is not stated
A vegetarian mark permits several of these. A vegan mark does not. That is the entire reason to read which mark is printed instead of treating a leafy green logo as a single category.
Suitable for vegans, and plant-based
Suitable for vegans printed by the manufacturer is a self-declaration with no owner and no audit behind it. It is not dishonest by default, and large retailers apply their own internal checks, but it is not the same instrument as a licensed mark. Plant-based is weaker still: no standard defines it, so it can describe a product that still contains dairy or egg. Neither phrase is a certification mark, and neither is a trademark you would need permission to print.
Related pages
- Gluten-free symbols on food, the other dietary mark with a measurable threshold
- Food allergy symbols, because vegan is not the same as milk-free in law
- Food brand symbols and food symbols for the rest of the label