Provenance

Reference data from EU CLP Annex VI and published regulations — verify against your supplier's SDS before use.

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GHS Hazard Pictogram

GHS02 — Flame Pictogram

Also called the flame symbol. Signal word: Danger or Warning.

Flammable substances

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What does GHS02 mean?

The flame pictogram indicates flammable gases, aerosols, liquids, and solids, as well as pyrophoric, self-heating, and water-reactive substances. Flash point below 60 °C for liquids is a key trigger.

Straight answers

What does the flame pictogram on a chemical label indicate?

That the substance can catch fire — on its own, in air, or on contact with water. 11 CLP hazard classes lead to this pictogram, more than any other, and it carries 21 hazard statements.

Which hazards make up the flame pictogram?

Flammable gases, aerosols, flammable liquids, flammable solids, self-reactive substances of types B to F, pyrophoric liquids, pyrophoric solids, self-heating substances, substances that emit flammable gases in contact with water, organic peroxides of types B to F, and desensitised explosives.

Does the flash point decide whether a liquid gets the flame?

For liquids, yes. A flammable liquid under CLP has a flash point of 60 °C or below. Category 1 is a flash point under 23 °C with an initial boiling point of 35 °C or less; category 2 is under 23 °C with a boiling point above 35 °C; category 3 runs from 23 °C to 60 °C. Gas oils, diesel and light heating oils with a flash point between 55 °C and 75 °C may be treated as category 3.

Which signal word goes with the flame?

Both, by category. For flammable liquids, categories 1 and 2 take Danger and category 3 takes Warning — which is why a can of white spirit and a can of petrol carry the same picture and different words.

How many chemicals carry GHS02?

517 substances with a harmonised classification in CLP Annex VI.

Every number here is computed from CLP Annex VI at build time. See all nine pictograms compared.

Which hazard classes require GHS02?

GHS02 is assigned by 11 hazard classes across 29 categories under CLP and UN GHS. The signal word is set by the category, not by the pictogram — which is why the same pictogram can carry both Danger and Warning. The full wording of every code is listed under Associated H-statements below.

Hazard class Ch. Category Signal word H-code
Flammable gases 2.2 1A Danger H220
Flammable gases 2.2 1B Danger H221
Flammable gases 2.2 Chemically unstable A Danger H230
Flammable gases 2.2 Chemically unstable B Danger H231
Flammable gases 2.2 Pyrophoric Danger H232
Aerosols 2.3 1 Danger H222
Aerosols 2.3 2 Warning H223
Flammable liquids 2.6 1 Danger H224
Flammable liquids 2.6 2 Danger H225
Flammable liquids 2.6 3 Warning H226
Flammable solids 2.7 1 Danger H228
Flammable solids 2.7 2 Warning H228
Self-reactive substances and mixtures 2.8 Type B Danger H241
Self-reactive substances and mixtures 2.8 Type C and D Danger H242
Self-reactive substances and mixtures 2.8 Type E and F Warning H242
Pyrophoric liquids 2.9 1 Danger H250
Pyrophoric solids 2.10 1 Danger H250
Self-heating substances and mixtures 2.11 1 Danger H251
Self-heating substances and mixtures 2.11 2 Warning H252
In contact with water emits flammable gases 2.12 1 Danger H260
In contact with water emits flammable gases 2.12 2 Danger H261
In contact with water emits flammable gases 2.12 3 Warning H261
Organic peroxides 2.15 Type B Danger H241
Organic peroxides 2.15 Type C and D Danger H242
Organic peroxides 2.15 Type E and F Warning H242
Desensitised explosives 2.17 1 Danger H206
Desensitised explosives 2.17 2 Danger H207
Desensitised explosives 2.17 3 Warning H207
Desensitised explosives 2.17 4 Warning H208

Interactive tool

Flash point → GHS category

Enter a closed-cup flash point (and the boiling point, if known) to classify a liquid.

Which pictograms appear next to GHS02

A label rarely carries one diamond. Counted across the 517 harmonised substances that carry GHS02 — before the Article 26 precedence rules remove anything.

GHS08 Health Hazard 259 · 50.1% GHS07 Exclamation Mark 202 · 39.1% GHS04 Gas Cylinder 173 · 33.5% GHS05 Corrosion 104 · 20.1% GHS09 Environmental Hazard 101 · 19.5% GHS06 Skull and Crossbones 68 · 13.2% GHS01 Exploding Bomb 2 · 0.4%

Half of everything flammable is also a long-term health hazard. Fire safety and occupational health are the same shelf, not two.

When GHS02 changes what else is shown

Article 26 of CLP cuts the number of diamonds on a label. 2 of its five rules touch GHS02.

Article 26(1)(a)

If GHS01 applies, the use of GHS02 and GHS03 becomes optional — unless more than one of them is compulsory.

Rarely in play here: 2 of the 517 entries carrying the flame also carry the exploding bomb.

Article 26(1)(e)

If GHS02 or GHS06 applies, the use of GHS04 becomes optional.

Added to CLP by amendment and routinely missed. 173 entries carry the flame together with the gas cylinder — on those labels the cylinder is a choice, not an obligation.

Nothing in Article 26 makes GHS02 optional in the other direction unless a rule above says so. All five precedence rules, with the number of substances each one affects.

Storage & handling requirements

Store in dedicated flammable storage cabinet away from oxidisers and ignition sources. Use explosion-proof electrical equipment. Ground and bond containers during transfer to prevent static discharge. Keep containers tightly closed.

Regulatory context (CLP / OSHA / REACH)

CLP categories: Flammable Liquids Cat. 1–3 (H224/H225/H226), Flammable Gases Cat. 1–2 (H220/H221). OSHA 29 CFR 1910.106 governs flammable liquid storage. NFPA 30 provides fire protection standards.

Transport marking: GHS vs ADR/DOT

ADR Class 3 (flammable liquids) or Class 2.1 (flammable gases). Transport placards show red diamond with black flame. Flashpoint determines packing group: PG I (<23°C), PG II (23–60°C).

Printing GHS02 on a label

A square set at a point — a diamond — with the black symbol on a white background and a red frame wide enough to be clearly visible. An all-black frame is a transport label, not a CLP pictogram. Size is set twice over: each pictogram must cover at least one fifteenth of the minimum label area required by Article 17, and must never be smaller than 1 cm². On a package of 3 litres or less that works out to 10 × 10 mm as the floor, and 16 × 16 mm where it fits.

Source: Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008, Annex I, 1.2.1.1–1.2.1.4 and Table 1.3 — the full table for all four package sizes. Building an actual label? The label constructor lays it out at the right proportions.

GHS02 — Flame

High-resolution SVG vector file. Free for use in safety documents, SDS, and label design.

Substances classified with GHS02

Showing 24 of 517 substances in our database with this pictogram. View all →

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