what does this symbol mean?

Packaging symbols

The marks printed on packaging, from the colour squares on a toothpaste tube to the dates and quantities on labels.

Packaging symbols are the marks printed on a package itself rather than on the product inside. Some are made for the production line, not the shopper. An eye mark, like the coloured square on a toothpaste tube, lets a sensor tell the sealing machine when and where to seal and cut. Its colour carries no information about what is in the package, whatever rumours say: Dubai Municipality and Snopes have both said so.

Sources

  1. How to ensure the eye mark on tube packaging works well?, Auber Packaging Co., Ltd.
  2. Dubai Municipality allays toothpaste tube mark scare, 10 August 2016, Gulf News
  3. Do Color Codes on Toothpaste Tubes Identify Their Ingredients?, Fact check, Snopes

Last reviewed September 25, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research