FCC mark
The FCC logo is a voluntary mark showing that an electronic device complies with the US Federal Communications Commission’s rules for radio-frequency devices. Since November 2017 no device has to carry it.
Easily confused with
How to read it
Radio-frequency devices must be authorised under 47 CFR Part 2 before they are marketed in or imported into the United States, the FCC says, so that they work without causing harmful interference and meet rules such as the limits on human exposure to RF energy. There are two procedures, certification and the Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC). Under 47 CFR 2.1074, a device authorised under an SDoC may carry the FCC logo on a voluntary basis, as a visual indication that it complies with the FCC’s requirements. The logo does not replace the compliance information that has to come with the product.
Also searched as: fcc id, fcc logo, fcc mark meaning, fcc symbol.
The 2017 change
Before November 2017, devices approved under the FCC’s Declaration of Conformity procedure had to carry the FCC logo on their label (47 CFR 15.19(b), 2016 edition). An FCC order published in the Federal Register on 2 November 2017 (FCC 17-93) merged the Declaration of Conformity and verification procedures into a single process, the SDoC. The FCC decided that continuing to require the logo would be an unnecessary burden on manufacturers, and that the compliance statement now required with every SDoC device tells consumers things they cannot learn from the logo. The responsible party may still put the logo on a device that complies.
The FCC ID
The FCC ID is a code, not a logo. Devices that go through certification carry it on a label, preceded by the words FCC ID in capital letters (47 CFR 2.925). The FCC explains that it has two parts: a grantee code of three or five characters, assigned permanently by the FCC to the company, and a product code chosen by the company. Products approved under an SDoC are not filed with the FCC, so a device with no FCC ID on its label will not be in the FCC’s equipment authorization database. The FCC ID is also unrelated to the registration number on telephone equipment under Part 68.
Look-alikes
The CE mark found on many of the same devices is the manufacturer’s declaration under EU law that the product meets the EU rules that apply to it.
Read next
- Next in Certification marksOU kosher symbolThe kosher symbol of OU Kosher, the Orthodox Union’s certification program: an agency has checked the product and how it was made against Jewish dietary law.
- The same shape in Accessibility symbolsAudio description symbol (AD)AD stands for audio description: a narrator describes what is happening on screen or on stage in the pauses between the dialogue, for people who are blind or have low vision.
More certification marks
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with curves and waves or letters and numbers.
Sources
- 47 CFR § 2.1074: Identification, 47 CFR 2.1074, as amended at 82 FR 50829 (2 November 2017), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations), § 2.1074(a)–(b)
- 47 CFR § 2.925: Identification of equipment, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations), § 2.925(a)(1)
- Authorization of Radiofrequency Equipment (final rule), 82 FR 50820–50838, 2 November 2017; ET Docket No. 15-170; FCC 17-93, Federal Communications Commission, in the Federal Register (govinfo), Summary, paragraphs 2 and 7
- 47 CFR 15.19: Labelling requirements (2016 edition), Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47, Volume 1, revised as of 1 October 2016, U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo), § 15.19(b)(1)
- FCC ID Search, Office of Engineering and Technology, Federal Communications Commission
- Equipment Authorization (FCC), Office of Engineering and Technology, Laboratory Division, Federal Communications Commission
- CE marking (Your Europe), Your Europe, last checked 17 July 2026, European Union (Your Europe)
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 14, 2026. How we research
Added .