Skip to content

Restricted claim

“Green checkmark / leaf icon”

Is “Green checkmark / leaf icon” allowed under the EU Green Claims Directive (2024/825)?

Medium-risk claim Self-made labels

Why it is restricted

Purely visual environmental signalling — leaves, green ticks, earth icons — is read by consumers as certification. Implied claims fall under the same rules as written ones.

Say this instead

Keep decoration decorative: no leaf or tick next to a product unless it is a real certifier's mark.

Legal basis

Directive 2005/29/EC, Annex I point 4a, inserted by Directive 2024/825 (generic environmental claim). Recital 9 states that a claim "combined with implicit claims such as colours or images" can be a generic environmental claim. Point 2a is NOT the basis unless the mark is a label: Article 2(q) defines a sustainability label as a "trust mark, quality mark or equivalent", which a decorative leaf is not

← All restricted claims

Related claims

“Self-awarded eco-label” High-risk claim “Unverified trust mark” High-risk claim “Own sustainability score” High-risk claim “Approved by [own brand]” High-risk claim

Find these terms in your own copy

The scanner looks for every one of them, in context, and tells you which ones are actually a problem.

Scan a site See an example report