The Cyber Essentials logo — how to get it and use it properly

The short answer

Once you pass, IASME sends you the official Cyber Essentials logo files with your certificate number and expiry date. You may use it on your website, email signatures, tenders and stationery for exactly twelve months from the certification date, and you must stop using it the day the certificate expires. There is no fee for the logo and no separate application — it comes with the pass.

Where the logo comes from

The logo is issued by IASME, which runs the scheme for the National Cyber Security Centre, not by the certification body that assessed you. After a pass you receive an email containing the certificate as a PDF and a link to the logo pack — the standard Cyber Essentials badge, and the Cyber Essentials Plus badge if you certified at that level. Downloading a copy from an image search is not the same thing: the scheme's rules require the version issued to you, and a logo without a valid certificate behind it is a misrepresentation.

What you're allowed to do with it

• Website — footer, an "accreditations" panel, a security page. Linking the badge to the public certificate register is good practice and helps anyone checking you.
• Email signatures — the most-seen placement, and the one that quietly reassures customers and suppliers.
• Tenders and pre-qualification questionnaires — attach the certificate; the badge goes on the cover.
• Stationery, brochures, vehicles, premises — permitted while the certificate is valid.
• Social media — fine, with the same twelve-month limit.

What you must not do

• Use the logo after expiry. Certificates last twelve months; the day after, the badge comes down until you've recertified.
• Alter the logo — recolour it, crop it, put it on a busy background, or stretch it.
• Use the Plus badge if you only hold the basic certificate.
• Imply the certificate covers a company, site or subsidiary that was outside the assessed scope.
• Use it while an application is pending. "Working towards Cyber Essentials" is a sentence, not a badge.

Getting the sizing right

The pack contains PNG and vector versions. Use the vector (SVG or EPS) for print, and the PNG at a sensible size for web — the badge should be legible but not the largest thing on the page. Keep clear space around it roughly equal to the height of the shield, and don't put it on a background that fights the colours. The current logo was simplified specifically to stay readable at small sizes in email signatures, so there is no need to enlarge it.

How to prove the badge is real

Anyone can check a certificate on the public register by company name; add a line under the badge — "Certificate number XXXXX, valid to Month 2027" — and you've answered the question before it's asked. If you're the one checking a supplier, our verification guide walks through it.

If you've lost the logo pack

Ask the certification body that processed your assessment; they can re-issue the link. If you certified through PassCyber, one email does it. Keep the files somewhere shared rather than in one person's inbox — the commonest reason a business is caught using an expired badge is that nobody knew where the current one lived.