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A coil or spiral, indicating cookware works on induction.
Also known as: Induction symbol, Induction compatible symbol, Coil symbol cookware, Induction ready symbol
A coil of wire marks a pan as suitable for an induction hob. Unlike the other marks here the underlying property is testable at home: induction needs a ferrous base, so a magnet that sticks to the bottom of the pan settles it.
Is not a standardised symbol. No body defines it, its drawing varies between manufacturers, and its presence is the manufacturer's own assurance rather than a certification — so the absence of the mark does not reliably mean the object is unsuitable, and its presence is not a guarantee.
Stated first rather than as a footnote, because it is the most useful thing to know about the mark. Check the manufacturer's own instructions where it matters.
Contexts: Packaging
Indicates that cookware will work on an induction hob, drawn as a horizontal coil or a series of loops representing the induction element.
Contexts: Packaging
Reflects a physical property rather than a manufacturer's judgement: induction heats by inducing a current in a ferrous base, so a pan either works or it does not, and a magnet sticking to the base is a reliable test.
This makes it the one mark in this batch a reader can verify independently, even though the symbol itself is not standardised.
Contexts: Packaging
Is absent from most aluminium, copper and glass cookware, which will not work on induction regardless of quality.
Contexts: Packaging
Can be checked without it. An induction hob works by inducing a current in the base of the pan, so any pan a magnet sticks firmly to will work and any pan it will not stick to will not — aluminium, copper and most glass fail regardless of what the packaging says. The magnet test settles the question for the great majority of pans, which carry no mark at all.
Contexts: Packaging, Electrical equipment
Related forms that are not treated as separate canonical symbols — see our variant rules.
Coil-of-wire form
A flat spiral or a row of horizontal loops representing the induction coil, the form usually moulded into a pan base.
Four-loop zig-zag
A row of four connected loops, common on European cookware packaging and easily mistaken for the schematic symbol for an inductor, which is what it is derived from.
A horizontal series of tight loops or a flattened coil, like a spring viewed from the side.
Both draw a coil, and for the same reason — an induction hob works by electromagnetic induction, which is what an inductor does.