Genogram Symbols: A Complete Guide
A genogram uses a fixed set of symbols to record family members, marriages, parent-child structure and the emotional relationships between people. This page lists the common symbols and what they mean, drawn exactly as they appear in the EcoGenogram editor.
People
Each family member is drawn as a shape: a square for a male, a circle for a female. A common practice is to write the age inside the shape and the name and birth year next to it.
Basic
Sexual orientation and gender identity
An inverted triangle inside the shape marks a gay or lesbian person; a dashed triangle marks a bisexual person. For a transgender person, a second shape for the identified gender is drawn inside the outline.
Pregnancy and unborn
A triangle marks a pregnancy where the sex is not yet known. Miscarriage, induced abortion and stillbirth are distinguished by crossed lines on the symbol.
Special marks
An X inside the shape marks a deceased person. The index person is the focus of the genogram; EcoGenogram fills the shape in grey, while some textbooks use a double outline. Multiple births branch down from a single point.
Other
Couple relationships
Two partners are joined by a horizontal line, and their children hang down from that line. A solid line means marriage; a dashed line means an unmarried relationship such as engagement or cohabitation. One slash across the line marks a separation, two slashes a divorce. By tradition the male partner is drawn on the left.
Parents and children
Children connect to the couple line with vertical lines and are ordered by birth from left to right, oldest first. Biological children use a solid line, adopted children a dashed line.
Emotional relationship lines
Emotional relationship lines run between two people and use line style and colour to show the nature of the relationship: green leans positive, red shows conflict, purple shows abuse. Lines with an arrow have a direction, pointing towards the person on the receiving end.
Distance
Positive
Conflict
Mixed
Abuse
Special
Variations between conventions
There is no single mandatory standard for genograms, and textbooks and agencies draw some symbols differently. If your organisation has its own guidelines, follow them; what matters most is staying consistent within one genogram.