Candle Warning Labels with Safety Pictograms

Understanding the label: what the National Candle Association says

Candle safety starts with the label. The National Candle Association (NCA), the U.S. candle industry’s trade group, explains that reputable candle makers follow fire-safety standards a customer can’t see — and the label is how a customer can tell. Its advice to anyone buying a candle: read the cautionary label before you light it.

Three rules on every candle. The NCA says every candle should carry a cautionary label or tag with three key safety rules: Burn Within Sight, Keep Away from Combustibles (things that can catch fire) and Keep Away from Children. Many labels add the maker’s own burning instructions as well.

No label is a warning sign. According to the NCA, a candle sold without a cautionary label may not meet safety standards and may be missing other fire-safety features, and it advises shoppers to avoid such candles. For a maker, that means every candle you sell or give away should leave with its label.

The pictograms. The NCA offers three graphic icons for the three rules, which it describes as becoming standard around the world, as free downloads (EPS, JPEG and PDF). The icons on these labels are the NCA’s own files, credited on every sheet.

How these labels follow it. Each label carries the three rules in plain words — “keep away from things that catch fire” for combustibles — with pets added from the NCA’s safety tips, the three pictograms, and the everyday burning tips listed below. Read the full guidance on the NCA’s official Understanding the Label page.

What’s on the label

The warning triangle, WARNING, the three pictograms, and the three core rules in capitals: burn within sight · keep away from things that catch fire · keep away from children & pets.

Under them, the everyday safety tips from the National Candle Association follow: trim the wick to ¼ inch before each use; burn on a stable, heat-resistant surface in a well-ventilated room, away from drafts; keep it 12 inches from anything that can catch fire and 3 inches from other candles; burn no longer than four hours at a time; don’t move it while the wax is liquid; never use water to put it out; and stop when ½ inch of wax remains.

Every size carries the full text. On the smaller labels the text is smaller, so check that you can read it before you print a batch.

Choosing a size

Measure the bottom of your jar or tin and pick the largest circle that sits flat on it. Each sheet is laid out on a real Avery round-label template, so it prints straight onto that sticker sheet: 3″ — Avery 94513 (6 per sheet), 2½″ — Avery 22830 (9), 2″ — Avery 22807 (12) and 1¾″ — Avery 94509 (20). Avery’s other labels of the same size that share those templates fit too.

One single label — the 3″ label as a PNG (900 × 900 pixels, 300 dpi at 3″) with a transparent background. Drop it into your label software or your own design and resize it to the size you need.

Print on the matching Avery sheet — or on plain paper and cut along the circles. Print at 100% / actual size, never “fit to page”, and try one sheet on plain paper first.

A starting point, not your whole label

These labels cover the core cautions. Your full candle label may need more — your business details, net weight and anything your state requires. See candle label requirements and the Safety & Regulations guide to labels. CandleEasy does not certify that any label meets a standard.