Defibrillator symbol

A heart with a lightning stroke on green, marking an AED.

Also known as: AED sign, Defib sign, Heart with a lightning bolt, Automated external defibrillator symbol

Safety & hazardEveryday & digitalStandard profile

Meanings

A heart crossed by a lightning stroke on green marks an automated external defibrillator. The green tells a bystander it is equipment for helping someone, and AEDs are designed to be usable by a passer-by with no training at all.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Marks the location of an automated external defibrillator, a device that analyses heart rhythm and delivers a shock if one is needed.
Contexts: Public information
Common modern usageVerified fact
Combines a heart with a lightning stroke to show the device acts on the heart electrically, a composition designed to be readable at a glance in an emergency.
Contexts: Public information
Common modern usageVerified fact
Is green because the device is a safe-condition provision, not a hazard. AEDs are built to be used by untrained bystanders and will not deliver a shock unless the rhythm calls for one.
Contexts: Public information
Common modern usageVerified fact
Belongs to the safe-condition class of safety signs, drawn as a white pictogram on a green square or rectangle. Green marks where safety is — an exit, a route, equipment for helping someone — and never a hazard.
Contexts: Public information

Visual description

A white heart shape crossed by a jagged lightning stroke running diagonally through it, on a solid green square.

Symmetry: none
Orientation: upright
Colours: green, white

Part of the same system as: First aid symbol
Both are green safe-condition signs marking equipment for helping an injured person.

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.

Sources

Defibrillation
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for what the symbol depicts, its shape-and-colour category, and any ISO reference number it reports. The standards themselves are paywalled and were not consulted, so nothing here is treated as an official definition.
First aid
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for what the symbol depicts, its shape-and-colour category, and any ISO reference number it reports. The standards themselves are paywalled and were not consulted, so nothing here is treated as an official definition.
Safety sign
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for what the symbol depicts, its shape-and-colour category, and any ISO reference number it reports. The standards themselves are paywalled and were not consulted, so nothing here is treated as an official definition.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31

Part of

Safety signs and their shape-and-colour grammar

Help improve this page

Meanings

Common modern usageVerified fact

Marks the location of an automated external defibrillator, a device that analyses heart rhythm and delivers a shock if one is needed.

Contexts: Public information

Common modern usageVerified fact

Combines a heart with a lightning stroke to show the device acts on the heart electrically, a composition designed to be readable at a glance in an emergency.

Contexts: Public information

Common modern usageVerified fact

Is green because the device is a safe-condition provision, not a hazard. AEDs are built to be used by untrained bystanders and will not deliver a shock unless the rhythm calls for one.

Contexts: Public information

Common modern usageVerified fact

Belongs to the safe-condition class of safety signs, drawn as a white pictogram on a green square or rectangle. Green marks where safety is — an exit, a route, equipment for helping someone — and never a hazard.

Contexts: Public information

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.

Sources

Defibrillation
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for what the symbol depicts, its shape-and-colour category, and any ISO reference number it reports. The standards themselves are paywalled and were not consulted, so nothing here is treated as an official definition.
First aid
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for what the symbol depicts, its shape-and-colour category, and any ISO reference number it reports. The standards themselves are paywalled and were not consulted, so nothing here is treated as an official definition.
Safety sign
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for what the symbol depicts, its shape-and-colour category, and any ISO reference number it reports. The standards themselves are paywalled and were not consulted, so nothing here is treated as an official definition.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols