AHA Seal Brand Guidelines for Instructors

1. The official AHA guidelines

Everything on this page comes from two AHA documents: one for the ECC seals used to promote AHA CPR, First Aid, and other lifesaving courses, and one for the Advanced Stroke Life Support (ASLS) seals. Read them once in full. The sections below break them down rule by rule.

Training Center Coordinators can download the seal artwork and these guidelines on AHA Atlas, under Tools & Resources, then US TC Seal & Web Guidelines. Training Sites and instructors should get their seal file from their TCC, not from another website, so they know it's the right version and hasn't been altered.

The AHA may update these guidelines. Updates are posted on CPRverify and the Instructor Network and sent to all current TCCs, so check back before you design something new.

2. Which seal is yours

The AHA makes four versions of the seal. The words around the outside of the circle name the role, and you may only use the version that matches yours.

The optional copy line can only be used when it and the seal are secondary to your name or logo. It never replaces the required line.

3. The alignment line

Training Site, TCC, and Instructor seals must always be accompanied by a line naming the Training Center you're aligned with. The AHA sets the wording. Fill in your details to build yours, then copy it into your design.

Getting it right

• Name one Training Center only: the one that applies to that flyer, page, or email. A seal "not used with one TC name/logo" is one of the AHA's incorrect examples.
• Use your Training Center's name exactly. Your instructor eCard shows it under Training Center Alignment, along with the Training Center's city and state.
• The line must accompany the seal, so place it right beside or under it.
• If you change Training Centers, update the line everywhere it appears: your website, email signature, flyers, and ads.
• These lines are for the ECC seals. The ASLS seals have their own "Proud to be an ASLS..." copy lines, covered in section 10.

4. Using the seal as-is

Every version of the seal has three parts, and it may only be used whole, with all three:

1. The AHA logo in the center, with the ® symbol. The ® shows it's a registered mark owned by the American Heart Association.
2. The red and gray circles around the logo.
3. The role text around the outside: Authorized Training Center, Aligned Training Site, Aligned Training Center Coordinator, or Aligned Instructor.

The seal design can't be altered in any way. It must be shown in its entirety, and it can't be screened back (faded) or used as background art.

Colors

The seal uses four colors. You won't set these yourself, since you use the AHA's file as-is, but they're useful when you choose a background or check a print proof.

Versions

The AHA provides each seal in three color versions: CMYK for light backgrounds, CMYK for dark backgrounds, and PMS (spot color) for light backgrounds. On a dark background, use the dark-background version instead of recoloring the seal. The seals are offered in English.

5. Size, spacing, and placement

These four measurements apply every time the seal appears, at any size.

Placement

• The seal is always used with your name or logo, never alone.
• Your name or logo goes before or above the seal.
• The seal must be clearly visible and separate from other text and graphics.
• Anyone looking should be able to tell the piece comes from you, the Training Center, Training Site, TCC, or instructor, and not from the AHA.

6. Where the seal can go

The seal is only for marketing and promoting AHA courses, and it must always appear alongside a reference to the AHA courses you offer. The AHA approves these uses:

• Schedules of AHA courses
• Announcements of AHA courses
• Brochures about AHA courses
• Flyers about AHA courses
• Posters advertising AHA courses
• Temporary vehicle signs, like a magnetic sign or removable placard
• AHA course advertisements, in print and online
• Web pages that list or advertise AHA courses
• Phone directory and Yellow Pages ads for AHA courses
• Email signatures
• AHA-published supplemental materials you use in your courses

7. Where it can never go

The AHA is direct about this list. Under no circumstances may any version of the seal be placed on:

• Letterhead
• Business cards
• Permanent building signs
• Specialty items like cups, pens, and T-shirts
• Supplemental educational materials that weren't published by the AHA, even if you use them in class
• Non-AHA textbooks, charts, booklets, course outlines, and similar materials
• Any other advertisement or notice

The AHA's list ends with "any advertisement or notice." Read alongside the approved uses, which include AHA course advertisements, that means any ad or notice that isn't for AHA courses. The ASLS guidelines say it directly: any advertisement or notice unrelated to ASLS.

The same goes for any independent training or instructional materials you create yourself. Your study guides, handouts, and slides can carry your own logo, but not the seal.

8. Common pitfalls and how to fix them

These are the mistakes we see most when instructors and Training Sites ask us to look over a flyer, website, or email signature. Each one breaks a specific AHA rule, and each has a simple fix.

9. Email signatures done right

Email signatures are an approved use, and they're where we see the most mistakes. The rule that matters most: your name or logo comes before or above the seal, never after it.

The heart and torch still need to be more than 3/8 inch tall, over 36 pixels on screen, so size your logo to fit the seal rather than shrinking the seal to fit your logo. And remember that business cards and letterhead are off-limits, even though email signatures are allowed.

10. ASLS seal: what's different

Advanced Stroke Life Support has its own seals and its own guidelines (KJ-1717, September 2023). The AHA co-developed ASLS with the University of Miami's Gordon Center. Most rules match the ECC seals, but a few measurements and details are different.

Everything else carries over to ASLS: never alone, smaller than your logo, the alignment line, no alterations, and the same approved and prohibited uses, applied to ASLS courses.

11. Before-you-publish checklist

Run through this before anything with the seal goes to print, goes live, or goes out by email. Every box should be checked. You can print it, too. The measurements and lines here are for the ECC seals; for an ASLS seal, use the ASLS measurements and wording from section 10.

12. Who enforces this, and what happens

These standards apply to every Training Center and to its Training Sites, TCCs, and instructors. The AHA backs them up:

• Your Training Center is responsible. The AHA places primary responsibility for enforcing these standards on each Training Center.
• The AHA audits. It periodically checks how the seal is used, randomly selects samples, and sends any required changes to the Training Center.
• The stakes are real. A violation by a Training Center, or by any of its Training Sites, TCCs, or instructors, may result in termination of the Training Center's Agreement with the AHA.
• The AHA has the final say. At its sole discretion, it can prohibit any Training Center, Training Site, TCC, or instructor from using the seals, or reject any specific use.

13. Frequently asked questions