Flowline
The 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.
Easily confused with
How to read it
Flowcharts read from left to right and from top to bottom, the normal direction in ANSI X3.5-1970, so lines going that way may be drawn without arrowheads. A line that runs against it, upward or to the left, carries an arrowhead. ISO 5807:1985 says solid or open arrowheads shall be added where needed and may be added anywhere for readability. Under the 1970 standard, flowlines that cross have no logical connection, and several incoming lines may join into one outgoing line.
Also searched as: arrow flowchart, flowchart flowline, flowline symbol.
Look-alikes
A dashed line running off to the side with a bracket is an annotation, a comment, not part of the flow. A line with a zigzag in it is a communication link. In UML a dashed arrow is a dependency.
Read next
- Next in Flowchart symbolsTerminal (start and end)The start or the end of a flowchart. The terminal is a flat oval, a rectangle with fully rounded ends, with a word such as Start or End inside.
- In BPMN symbolsSequence flow and message flowThe 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.
More flowchart symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with arrows or lines.
Sources
- Flowchart Symbols and Their Usage in Information Processing, ANSI X3.5-1970, adopted for federal use as FIPS PUB 24, American National Standards Institute; National Bureau of Standards (NIST), Sections 3.2.3 and 4.4.1
- Information processing: Documentation symbols and conventions for data, program and system flowcharts, program network charts and system resources charts, ISO 5807:1985, first edition (preview pages), International Organization for Standardization (iTeh Standards preview), Section 9.3.1
- Flowcharting Techniques, IBM Data Processing Techniques, Form C20-8152, International Business Machines Corporation (bitsavers.org), System flowcharts: basic symbols
- 10.3: Flowcharting, Kenneth Leroy Busbee, CSP31A C Programming, Delta College (LibreTexts Engineering), Flow Lines
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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