Using a certification mark
Your certificate lets you say something specific: that your management system has been audited against a named standard, for a stated scope, by a named certification body. These rules keep what you say within that.
01The principle
Say what the certificate says, and no more
This page summarizes the rules. AQC Group issues the certificate and the mark that goes with it, and the authority is AQC Group's logo rules, which we last read on 9 October 2026.
A certificate covers a management system: the way an organization plans, controls and checks its work. It covers the activities and sites named in its scope. It does not certify a product or a service, and it does not cover parts of the organization that the scope leaves out.
Someone who reads your letterhead, your website or your tender should come away believing exactly what the certificate says. Every rule on this page follows from that. Where a use would let a reader believe more, that a product has been tested, that the whole group is certified or that ISO has approved you, the use is not allowed.
The rules protect the value of your own certificate. A mark that can be used loosely stops meaning anything to the buyers you want to convince.
02What you may say
What you may say
Name the standard with its edition, say that it is your management system that is certified, give the scope, and name the certification body. For example:
- Our quality management system is certified to ISO 9001:2015 by AQC Group. Scope: the manufacture and supply of plastic packaging.
- Certified to ISO 14001:2015 for warehousing and distribution at our head office site. Certificate issued by AQC Group.
Use the edition printed on your certificate, and change the wording when you move to a new edition. If you quote the certificate number, quote it exactly. A reader can use it to check the certificate.
03What you may not
What you may not say or do
Each rule comes with its reason. If a case is not covered here, the reason usually settles it.
Do not drop the standard's number
A statement that gives only the three letters, such as "ISO approved" or "an ISO company", lets a reader think that ISO itself has approved or certified you. It has not. ISO writes standards, does not certify anyone, and asks that its standards are referred to by their full reference. Name the standard and its edition every time.
Do not use ISO's logo
ISO's short name and its logo are registered trademarks, and ISO does not let anyone use its logo in connection with certification. The mark you may use is the certification body's. ISO's page on its name and logo sets out what is allowed.
Do not claim that a product or service is certified
It is the management system that is certified. A certificate to ISO 9001 says how you manage quality. It does not say that a particular product has been tested or approved, so no wording and no layout may suggest that it has.
Not on a product or its packaging
AQC Group's logo rules do not allow the mark on a product, on its packing or packaging, or in any way that suggests the product conforms. They do allow a written statement on packaging that you hold a certified management system, provided it names you, the type of management system and AQC Group as the issuing body, and does not imply that the product, process or service is certified.
Food safety is the exception. For a food safety management system, the same rules allow neither the mark nor a statement on the product, on its label or on any of its packaging, nor on a certificate of analysis or of conformance.
Not on test, calibration or inspection reports
AQC Group's rules keep the mark off laboratory test reports, calibration certificates and inspection reports. A certified management system says nothing about an individual result, and the mark on a report would suggest that it does.
Not for activities or sites outside the scope
If one site, one division or one activity is certified, the mark belongs to that part alone. AQC Group's rules single this out: where only a subsidiary, a division, a department or an office is certified, take care that nothing suggests the whole company is. A group brochure, a shared website and a sister company's letterhead are where this goes wrong.
Do not alter the mark
Use the artwork as AQC Group supplies it. Its rules allow the mark in a single colour, which can be any colour, and at any size, as long as the proportions are not changed.
04Where it may appear
Where a mark may appear
There are two marks to think about: the certification body's own, and the symbol of the body that accredits it. The second has stricter rules.
The certification mark
- Letterheads and company literature. AQC Group's logo rules name both.
- Other stationery and media, where the use relates to the certified scope. The same rules say so.
- A website, an email signature or a tender document. AQC Group's rules do not mention these. Apply the same test: the certified scope only, and nothing that suggests a product is certified. Ask if you are unsure.
- A vehicle, a sign or a building. Ask AQC Group before you use the mark there.
The accreditation body's symbol, under AQC Group's rules
- Only where your scope is covered by that accreditation.
- Never in a way that misleads about accredited status, or that suggests the accreditation body has certified or approved your product, process or service.
- Not on buildings, flags or business cards.
- On vehicles only within publicity material, such as a large advertisement.
AQC Group's rules add that a certified organization may not use the IAF mark in any form. That mark belongs to the international recognition arrangement, which Global Accreditation Cooperation has run since 1 January 2026.
The exact artwork, and the rules as they stand on the day, reach you from AQC Group with the certificate. Where this page and those rules differ, the rules apply.
05When to stop
Suspension, withdrawal and changes
AQC Group's rules say that use of its certification logo, and of the accreditation body's symbol, stops immediately when a certificate lapses, is suspended or is withdrawn. That covers everything a reader can see: the website, email signatures, tender documents not yet sent, stationery, vehicles and signs.
- Suspended: the certificate is temporarily not valid. Stop using the mark and stop claiming certification until AQC Group restores it.
- Withdrawn or lapsed: the certificate has ended. Remove the mark and every reference to certification from all material, and do not go on presenting the certificate.
- Scope reduced: the rules for certification bodies require you to change your material so that every statement matches the new scope.
AQC Group's rules also require use to stop where you have changed your management system in a way that AQC Group has not accepted and that could affect your certification, or have not made a change that AQC Group required.
If a mark is misused
Auditors look at how the certificate and the mark are being used at each surveillance audit. AQC Group's rules say that misuse can lead to corrective action, withdrawal of certification, publication of the transgression and, if necessary, legal action.
If you see a certificate or a mark being misused by someone else, tell us through the complaints and appeals page.
Check before you print.
Send us the wording or the layout if you are unsure how to show your certification. We will check it against AQC Group's rules, or ask AQC Group.