Genogram ProGenogram Pro

Genogram key and legend

This page has the genogram key on one printable sheet, a shorter legend with the symbols most assignments use, and the Lindgren family's three-generation genogram drawn with its key beside it.

Download the printable keyOpen the free editor

Updated October 2026Notation follows McGoldrick, Gerson and Petry, Genograms: Assessment and Treatment (4th ed., 2020)

Genogram key on one sheet: person symbols (square male, circle female, diamond unknown, X for deceased, pregnancy, miscarriage, twins), couple lines (marriage, separation, divorce, cohabitation, engagement), emotional bond lines (close, fused, distant, cutoff, hostile, abuse) and medical condition fill patterns.
Three-generation genogram of the Lindgren family with its genogram key on the right. The key has rows for 5 males, 6 females, 1 index person and 1 deceased person, anxiety, 3 marriages and 7 biological child lines, and the cutoff, fused, distant and focused on bond lines that appear in the diagram.
The Lindgren family from the Bowen family systems example, exported from the editor with its key.

  1. Only the symbols in use

    Each row has a count beside it, such as 5 males and 6 females.

  2. Index person

    Hanna's yellow outline has its own row, so the reader knows whom the genogram is drawn for.

  3. Conditions with their colors

    Hanna's anxiety has a row in its color, the same teal as the quarter of her circle.

  4. One row per bond type

    The four bond rows are the cutoff between Lars and Erik, the fused line between Rosa and Sofia, the distant line between Erik and Sofia and Sofia's focus on Hanna.

Print the genogram key

The person symbols, pregnancy losses, couple lines, emotional bond lines and illness fills are all on one A4 page.

Genogram key PDFGenogram key PNG

Genogram legend for most assignments

This shorter legend has the symbols you usually need for class assignments and intake genograms, in the same notation the editor draws. The most common symbols are in the table below as text you can paste into a report, and all 25 couple lines and 39 emotional bonds are explained in the genogram symbols guide.

People

  • Male
  • Female
  • Unknown or non-binary
  • Deceased

Couples

  • Marriage
  • Separation
  • Divorce
  • Cohabitation
  • Engagement
  • Widowed

Parent and child

  • Biological child
  • Adopted child
  • Foster child

Emotional bonds

  • Very close
  • Fused
  • Distant
  • Cutoff
  • Discord
  • Hostile / Conflict
  • Fused and hostile
  • Abuse
SymbolMeaning
SquareA male
CircleA female
DiamondUnknown or non-binary gender (also used for pets)
X through the shapeA deceased person
Yellow or double outlineThe index person the genogram is drawn for
TriangleA pregnancy
Solid horizontal lineMarriage
Horizontal line with two slashesDivorce
Horizontal line with one slashSeparation
Dashed horizontal lineEngagement or committed relationship
Dash-dot-dot line with a houseCohabitation
Solid vertical lineA biological child
Dashed vertical lineAn adopted child
Two children on a shared peakTwins
Green lineA close or positive relationship
Red lineConflict or hostility
Three parallel linesA fused or enmeshed relationship
Broken line with two barsEmotional cutoff or estrangement

Let the editor draw the key for you

The editor builds a key from the symbols in your genogram, updates it as you add people, lines and conditions, and adds it beside the diagram when you export a PNG or PDF. Start from a blank genogram template or from this family in the editor.

Keep the key true to the diagram

List only the symbols you used

Common mistake
  • Male
  • Female
  • Divorce
  • Adopted
  • Fused
Correct
  • Male
  • Female
  • Marriage

The full sheet is a reference for learning the notation, so if you copy all of it into your key, the reader will look for symbols the diagram does not have.

Put the key beside the family

Common mistake
  • Male
  • Female
  • Marriage
  • Biological
Correct
  • Male
  • Female
  • Marriage
  • Biological

If the key is drawn over the diagram, the people under it are hidden, so put it in an empty corner of the same page.

Questions people ask

See every symbol in the genogram symbols guide
What is a genogram key?

A genogram key, also called a genogram legend, is the box where the meaning of each shape, line, fill and color on the diagram is explained: squares are males, circles are females, a horizontal line is a couple, slashes mean separation or divorce, vertical lines are the ties between parents and children, colored or patterned lines are emotional bonds, and colored fills inside a symbol are medical conditions. A genogram you share with anyone else needs a key so the reader does not have to guess.

Is a genogram key the same as a genogram legend?

Yes, genogram key and genogram legend are two names for the box where the symbols are explained, and both are used in textbooks and course handouts.

Can you make up your own symbols for a genogram?

Yes, as long as each one is explained in the key. Clinicians add their own symbol for something outside the standard notation, such as military service, and keep the standard symbols for everything else so other readers can follow the diagram.

Is there a printable genogram key PDF?

Yes. You can download the key sheet on this page as a printable A4 PDF and a high-resolution PNG, free to print and hand out in class or in a clinical team.

Where do I put the key on a genogram?

Put it in a corner that does not overlap the family, usually at the top right or bottom right, on the same page as the diagram. A genogram exported from Genogram Pro has its key drawn beside the diagram, with only the symbols in use.

Start your genogram from this example

Open it in the editor, swap in your own names and dates, and export it as a PNG or PDF.

Open this example in the editor