Multiple symbols have been developed to represent lacto-vegetarianism and veganism. Several are used on food packaging, including voluntary labels such as the Vegan Society trademark or the V-Label (with support of the European Vegetarian Union) as well as the vegetarian and non-vegetarian marks mandated by the Indian government. Symbols may also be used by members of the vegetarian and vegan communities to represent their identities, and in the course of animal rights activism.
Vegetarian symbols
Indian vegetarian mark
Packaged food and toothpaste products sold in India are required to be labelled with a mandatory mark in order to be distinguished between lacto-vegetarian and non-vegetarian. The symbol is in effect following the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Act of 2006, and received a mandatory status after the framing of the respective regulations (Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulation) in 2011. According to the law, vegetarian food should be identified by a green symbol and non-vegetarian food with a brown symbol. They are defined as:
"Vegetarian food must have a symbol of a green color-filled circle inside a square with a green outline prominently displayed on the package, contrasting against the background on the principal display panel, in close proximity to name or brand name of the food."
"Non-vegetarian food (any food which contains whole or part of any animal including birds, marine animals, eggs, or products of any animal origin as an ingredient, excluding honey, milk or milk products), must have a symbol of a brown color-filled circle inside a square with a brown outline prominently displayed on the package, contrasting against the background on the principal display panel, in close proximity to the name or brand name of the food."
In 2021, FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) adopted a new symbol for non-vegetarian food items due to concerns that the combination of the old symbols were difficult for people with colour blindness to distinguish. The new symbol is that of a brown color-filled triangle inside a square with a brown outline.
In September 2021, the FSSAI announced adoption of the new vegan symbol.
V-Label
The V-Label, a V with a leaf, originated with the European Vegetarian Union. The V-Label is a standardised international vegan and vegetarian label supported by the EVU with the aim of easy identification of vegan and vegetarian products and services.
Vegetarian Society approved trademark
The Vegetarian Society Approved trademark is the world’s first vegetarian accreditation symbol and appears on thousands of products worldwide. It was created in 1969 by the Vegetarian Society who were established in 1847 and invented the word “vegetarian.”
Any product displaying the Vegetarian Society Approved vegetarian trademark has been independently checked by the Vegetarian Society and meets these criteria:
Contains no ingredient made from animal body parts
Only free-range eggs are used
Measures in place to avoid cross-contamination during production
GMO-free
No animal testing carried out or commissioned.
Vegan symbols
Vegan Trademark
The Vegan Trademark, with its iconic sunflower, is an internationally recognised standard from The Vegan Society (who coined the term 'vegan'). It certifies products with the aim of easy identification of vegan products. Launched in 1990, it was the first vegan verification scheme.
Enclosed V
The enclosed v (modeled after the enclosed A symbol) is a popular vegan symbol, especially on social networks where it is represented by the Ⓥ symbol of the Enclosed Alphanumerics Unicode block. This lowercase "V" inside a circle is not used to label products as vegan nor should be relied upon to determine if a product is vegan. A kosher organization (Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis) owns and uses a US trademark (certification mark) consisting of an uppercase V inside a circle.
Seedling emoji
On internet forums and social networks, the seedling emoji 🌱 is sometimes used to symbolize veganism or vegan products.
Veganarchy symbol
The Veganarchy symbol, first introduced in print in Brian A. Dominick's Animal Liberation and Social Revolution pamphlet in 1995, combines the Circle-V with the Circle-A of anarchist symbolism.