Flowchart Symbols

Let’s learn basic symbols commonly used in flowcharts. The symbols could vary depending on the flowchart software.

 In general, some basic flowchart symbols are as follows:  

Symbol	Name	Purpose
	Terminal Start / End	The oval-shaped symbol indicates the starting or ending of the flowchart or program.
	Connected arrow lines	The connected arrow lines connect the flowchart symbols and show the program flow of control.
	Connector	The small circle Connector symbols connect parts without intersecting lines.
	Input / Output	The parallelogram Input/Output symbols indicate I/O operations in the flowchart or program. An input operation is the inflow of data, like obtaining the data from the user and transferring it into the program. An output operation is data outflow, like displaying the data to the console.
	Declare	The Declare symbol is used to declare variables in the flowchart or program. Variables are named memory locations that store values in the program. The declaration specifies the data type of the variable. Most programming languages require you to explicitly declare variables before using them in the program.
	Process	The rectangle Process symbol indicates the processor’s operation, such as assignments, calculations, etc.
	Decision	A diamond decision symbol creates a binary branch. Each branch executes based on whether the condition is True/False or Yes/No.
	Call	The Call symbol is used to invoke the functions or procedures. The Call symbol transfers the program control to the procedure/ functions. A pre-defined process symbol is used to show a procedure.
	Preparation or Loop	The preparation symbol represents a setup for another step in the flowchart. Flowgorithm Flowchart software. This symbol denotes various loop statements. The Loop symbol is used for repetition statements like While, For, and Do-While Loop. The loop statement executes a statement or group of statements multiple times based on the loop condition.
	Breakpoint	The Breakpoint symbol is used while debugging the flowchart or program. It halts the flowchart’s execution so that we can analyze the program state, variables, etc., to find the cause of any error.
	Document	The document symbol indicates a file, a printed document, a report, etc.
	Multi-Document	The Multi-Document symbol indicates multiple files, printed documents, reports, etc.