Sequence flow and message flow
The two arrows of BPMN. A solid arrow with a filled head is a sequence flow, the order of steps within one process; a dashed arrow that starts at a small open circle and ends in an open head is a message flow, a message passing between two participants.
Easily confused with
How to read it
BPMN 2.0.2 draws a sequence flow as a solid single line with a solid arrowhead, and a message flow as a dashed line with an open circle at its start and an open arrowhead at its end. A message flow must connect two separate pools, not two things in the same pool. Sequence flows can cross between lanes but cannot leave a pool. Politecnico di Milano’s exercise book describes the message flow as a dashed arrow with one end circular and the other triangular, standing for goods and information passing between participants.
Also searched as: bpmn message flow, bpmn sequence flow, bpmn sequence flow and message flow, dashed arrow bpmn, sequence flow and message flow symbol, solid arrow bpmn.
Look-alikes
A dotted line is an association: Stephen White’s introduction to BPMN, written at IBM in 2004, describes it as joining data, text and other artifacts to the flow, as with a Data object or a Text annotation. A flowchart flowline does the job of a sequence flow. In UML, a dashed arrow between classes is a dependency.
Read next
- Next in BPMN symbolsPoolOne participant in a process, such as a company, a customer or a supplier. A pool is a large rectangle with the participant’s name in a band at one end.
- A flowchart flowline does the job of a sequence flow.FlowlineThe order of steps: a flowline joins two symbols, and the flow runs along it from one to the next. It is a straight line, with an arrowhead where the direction needs showing.
More BPMN symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with arrows, circles or lines.
Sources
- Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), Version 2.0.2, OMG document formal/2013-12-09, December 2013 (also ISO/IEC 19510), Object Management Group, Sections 8.4.13 and 9.4
- Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN): Modeling Exercises, Cinzia Cappiello, Pierluigi Plebani and Monica Vitali, v.1.1, 2016 (CC BY-SA), Politecnico di Milano, Example 1.1; Chapter 4, 4.1
- Introduction to BPMN, Stephen A. White, IBM Corporation, 2004 (published on bpmn.org), IBM Corporation; Business Process Management Initiative, Table 2, BPD Connecting Elements; Swimlanes
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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