BPMN symbols and shapes: the complete 2.0 reference

BPMN 2.0 shapes fall into six groups: events (circles), activities (rounded rectangles), gateways (diamonds), connecting objects (arrows and lines), swimlanes (pools and lanes) and artifacts (data and notes). The outline of a shape tells you what kind of element it is; the marker inside tells you which variant. Learn the 25 core shapes in the cheat sheet, plus the variants in the tables below, and you can read almost any BPMN diagram.

Free BPMN symbols cheat sheet

The 25 core shapes, each with a one-line meaning, on a single printable page.

↓ Download the cheat sheet (PDF, A4) ↓ PNG image

Free to print, share and use in training material. If BPMN itself is new to you, start with what BPMN is and come back.

Events (circles)

An event is something that happens: it starts the process, occurs during it, or ends a path. Read the border for the position and the icon for the trigger.

Event	Looks like	Use it when	Example
Start event	Thin single-line circle	The process begins; one per process is the norm	"Order received"
Intermediate event	Double-line circle	Something happens mid-process: a wait, a message, a signal	"Wait 24 hours"
End event	Thick circle	A path finishes; use one per distinct outcome	"Order shipped", "Order cancelled"
Message event	Envelope inside	A message is sent or received from another participant	"Payment confirmation received"
Timer event	Clock inside	The process waits for a date, a time or a duration	"Every Monday 09:00"
Error event	Lightning bolt inside	An error is thrown, or caught on a task's boundary	"Card declined"
Signal event	Triangle inside	A broadcast any number of processes can react to	"Price list updated"
Terminate end event	Filled circle inside a thick circle	Stop the whole process at once, including parallel branches	"Fraud detected"

Boundary events are intermediate events drawn on the edge of a task. They catch something while the task runs: a timer on "Await payment" that escalates after 24 hours, or an error on "Charge card". A solid border interrupts the task; a dashed border lets it carry on. The order-to-cash example uses one.

More detail, including throwing versus catching: BPMN events explained.

Activities (rounded rectangles)

An activity is work being done. The most common is the task, a single unit of work named verb then noun ("Approve request"). A small marker in the top-left corner says who or what does it.

Activity	Marker	Use it when	Example
Task	None	You don't need to say who does the work	"Review application"
User task	Person	A person does it through a system: a form, an approval	"Approve expense claim"
Service task	Gears	A system or API does it with no person involved	"Check credit score"
Manual task	Hand	A person does it outside any system	"Pack parcel"
Script task	Scroll	The process engine runs a script	"Calculate discount"
Send task	Filled envelope	The step's whole job is sending a message	"Email the customer"
Receive task	Empty envelope	The step waits for an incoming message	"Wait for signed contract"
Business rule task	Table	A decision table or rules engine decides	"Determine risk band"
Sub-process	Plus sign at the bottom	A group of steps you want to collapse to one box	"Onboard supplier"
Call activity	Thick border	You reuse a process defined elsewhere	"Run KYC check"

If you're unsure, a plain task is never wrong. The typed markers add precision, and execution engines such as Camunda need them.

Gateways (diamonds)

A gateway is where the path splits or merges. The gateway itself does no work; put the work in a task before it, and the question on the gateway ("Approved?").

Gateway	Marker	Use it when	Example
Exclusive (XOR)	X, or empty	Exactly one path is taken, chosen by a condition	"Amount over €5,000?"
Parallel (AND)	Plus	All paths run at the same time, then re-join	IT setup and payroll setup during onboarding
Inclusive (OR)	Circle	One or more paths, each with its own condition	Notify by email and/or SMS
Event-based	Pentagon in a double circle	The path depends on which event happens first	Reply received, or 5 days pass

The rule that catches most people: close a parallel split with a parallel join, and an exclusive split with an exclusive merge. Mixing them deadlocks the process. See BPMN gateways explained and the invoice approval example.

Connecting objects (arrows and lines)

Connector	Looks like	Use it for
Sequence flow	Solid line, filled arrowhead	The order of steps inside one pool
Message flow	Dashed line, open arrowhead, small circle at the start	A message between two pools
Association	Dotted line	Attaching a data object or a note to an element

Drawing a sequence flow across a pool boundary is one of the most common errors in BPMN. Between pools, use a message flow. More in common BPMN mistakes.

Swimlanes: pools and lanes

• A pool is one participant: an organisation, a customer, or an external system. Draw a second pool only when there is a separate party you exchange messages with.
• A lane divides a pool by role, team or department, showing who performs each step. Every task sits in exactly one lane.

Example: a "Company" pool with Sales, Finance and Warehouse lanes, and a separate "Customer" pool connected by message flows. See BPMN pools and lanes.

Artifacts

Artifacts add information without changing how the process runs.

Artifact	Looks like	Use it for
Data object	Page with a folded corner	A document a task needs or produces ("Invoice")
Data store	Cylinder	A database read or written ("CRM")
Group	Dash-dot rounded box	Visually clustering elements, such as one phase
Text annotation	Open bracket with text	A note explaining an element

The six shapes that cover most diagrams

Start event, task, exclusive gateway, sequence flow, end event, and lane. With those six you can model and read most everyday processes. Add the parallel gateway, a timer or message event, and a second pool when the process needs them.

See the symbols in real diagrams

The 10 BPMN examples use these shapes in context, each with a downloadable .bpmn file. To see which symbols your own process needs, describe it to BPMN Studio and it places them for you; then compare the result with this page. Next: how to create a BPMN diagram.