what does this symbol mean?

Accessibility symbols

Symbols and schemes that signal access needs in public places, and what each one means.

Accessibility symbols are the symbols and schemes that signal access needs in public places. The section has one page: the sunflower lanyard, a green lanyard printed with yellow sunflowers, which is the symbol of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower. The scheme’s own site explains what wearing it means. The page adds what others say about it, from airports, a hospital and a charity, where the scheme’s own figures differ from page to page, two other badges and cards used in transport, and the two countries that have written the sunflower into law. It describes the scheme as the scheme and those organisations describe it, as their pages read in September 2026.

The sunflower lanyard

The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower launched at London Gatwick Airport in May 2016. Epilepsy Action describes the idea as a green lanyard with a yellow sunflower that passengers could choose to wear to indicate an invisible disability. The scheme calls it a simple tool for voluntarily sharing a disability or condition that may not be immediately apparent. It says there is no qualifying list of invisible disabilities, and that wearers do not need to provide proof or explain why they wear it. It does not automatically provide priority access, fast-track services or a place at the front of a queue. Gatwick says its staff will not know what a wearer’s particular disability is.

The scheme’s figures

The scheme’s pages give different counts. Its tenth-anniversary post says the Sunflower is recognised in more than 95 countries. Its airports page gives 350 airports in 70 countries, and 31 airlines; the page explaining the Sunflower says over 300 airports, and its facts page over 200. The symbol page shows each figure beside the page it comes from.

Other cards, and the law in Brazil and Uruguay

Transport for London’s “Please offer me a seat” badge and card are for people who struggle to stand on public transport; TfL says they don’t promise a seat. The TSA Notification Card used at US airport security states that presenting it does not exempt the traveller from screening. Brazil’s Law 14.624, signed on 17 July 2023, formalised the ribbon with sunflower designs as the symbol identifying people with hidden disabilities. Under that law the symbol does not replace a document proving the disability when one is asked for. Uruguay’s law of December 2025 allows the voluntary use of the “collar de girasoles” (sunflower lanyard) to be promoted.

Sources

  1. Our History, Project Semicolon (Internet Archive copy, 18 April 2025; the organisation’s site was offline when checked in September 2026), Project Semicolon
  2. Hidden Disabilities Sunflower – to make the invisible, visible, 13 February 2023, Epilepsy Action
  3. A symbol for non-visible disabilities, Hidden Disabilities Sunflower, UK home page (read September 2026), Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme Limited, What is the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower?; footer
  4. In facts - the Sunflower, Hidden Disabilities Sunflower, facts and misconceptions (read September 2026), Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme Limited
  5. What is the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower?, Hidden Disabilities Sunflower (read September 2026), Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme Limited
  6. Assisted Travel | London Gatwick Airport, Hidden disabilities (read September 2026), London Gatwick Airport, Hidden disabilities
  7. 10 years of the Sunflower, Hidden Disabilities Sunflower, tenth-anniversary post, 2026 (read September 2026), Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme Limited
  8. Airports and airlines around the world, Hidden Disabilities Sunflower (read September 2026), Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme Limited
  9. Please offer me a seat, Read via Internet Archive copy of 20 July 2026, Transport for London
  10. TSA Notification Card: Individuals with Disabilities and Medical Conditions, Transportation Security Administration
  11. Lei prevê uso de fita com desenho de girassóis para identificar pessoa com deficiência não aparente, Agência Câmara, 18 July 2023, Câmara dos Deputados (Brazil)
  12. Ley que modifica los artículos 2 y 7 de la Ley N° 18.651 (Carpeta n.° 415/2025), Text as promulgated, Montevideo, 23 December 2025, Presidencia de la República Oriental del Uruguay, Artículo 2°

Last reviewed September 30, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research