Orientation arrows on dangerous goods (two arrows, black or red)
The package holds liquid dangerous goods in inner containers with their closures facing up: keep it upright so they do not leak.
Who puts it on the box
The sender, as required for combination packagings with liquids in inner packagings, packages with vents and open cryogenic receptacles, with exceptions such as small inner packagings.
How to read it
Keep it upright with the arrows pointing up. On a dangerous-goods package, arrows may not be used for anything else, so any arrows on it are orientation arrows. HSE notes they also apply to limited-quantity packages when the conditions of ADR 5.2.1.10 are met.
What it does not promise
It does not promise the package stayed upright or that nothing leaked, and it does not say what the liquid is: the class label or the limited-quantity mark says that.
A mark on a parcel is the sender’s statement about what is inside and how it should be handled. It is not a certificate that the parcel is packed safely, that anyone handled it as marked, or that your carrier accepts it: for what you may send, read the carrier’s own terms.
- What it looks like
- Two arrows pointing up on a bar, black or red on a white or contrasting background, sometimes inside a rectangular frame, on two opposite sides of the package.
- Regulation
- ADR 2025, section 5.2.1.10 (orientation arrows); UN Model Regulations 5.2.1.10
- Kind of mark
- A dangerous-goods mark or label from the UN Model Regulations, applied in Europe by ADR (road) and its sister agreements for rail and waterways, and on the same pattern by the US 49 CFR. It says the package holds dangerous goods.
- Also called
- Package orientation marking; Up arrows (dangerous goods)
Related
Other marks with the same shape
Sources
Each document was fetched and read on the date shown. Written in our own words; quotations are the documents’ wording.
- Regulator guidance — Health and Safety Executive (UK regulator for the carriage of dangerous goods): Carriage of dangerous goods manual — Main exemptions: limited quantities (ADR 3.4) and excepted quantities (ADR 3.5) — Paragraph 14: orientation arrows have to be applied to limited-quantity packages when the conditions described at ADR 5.2.1.10 apply. Checked 2026-09-27.
- Law adopting the same mark — US Government Publishing Office (govinfo), 49 CFR, edition of 1 October 2024: 49 CFR § 172.312 Liquid hazardous materials in non-bulk packagings (package orientation markings) — The US rule mirroring the UN one: combination packages with liquid inner packagings, vented packages and open cryogenic receptacles are packed closures up and marked with arrows on two opposite vertical sides, black or red on white; arrows for other purposes may not be shown; exceptions for cylinders and small inner packagings. Checked 2026-09-27.