The ICF sets the standards of the coaching profession like no other professional organisation. The ACC, PCC & MCC credentials are recognised worldwide as a relevant market of the commitment of coaches to excellence, and over 50,000 coaches are now credentialed with them.
Being affiliated with the ICF can be important for coaches who seek recognition and want to demonstrate their training and experience. However, this affiliation has certain boundaries that we are going to cover in this article, so you know exactly if you can use the ICF logo on your website.
Before looking at which logo to use and how to use it, we first need to define what “affiliated” means for individual coaches.
You are affiliated or connected with ICF when you either:
It means you can be affiliated with the ICF without applying for or having received an ICF credential, as long as you took part in an ICF-accredited training.
The ICF has many (many) logos.
You should use the logo specific to your affiliation with the ICF.
If you are currently attending, or have completed an ICF-accredited course, you can’t use the Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 or CCE badge as those badges are for the accredited training organisations. You can, however, use the logo and link of the training provider.
We don’t recommend using the main ICF logo as it doesn’t specify your affiliation and can make it confusing to understand why you are displaying the logo. You can however use the main ICF logo if you are writing about the ICF, for example in a blog post about what the ICF is.
Once you have established if you can use the ICF logo, and which logo to use, you should be mindful of where and how to use it.
The ICF Brand Guidelines mention that coaches can use the logo in “advertising, marketing collateral, or a website that references your connection with ICF” only if the ICF logo is combined with the company’s logo, or another company you are affiliated with.
The logo should make relationship between you and the ICF clear, and it should not be used to suggest an official endorsement of your products and services by the ICF.
The ICF logo should also not be a prominent feature of your content. Your own business name, logo, and brand should be displayed primarily.
For more information on this topic, make sure to check the ICF Brand Guidelines.
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International Coaching Federation. (2021). Brand Guidelines. URL: https://coachingfederation.org/app/uploads/2021/01/ICF_BrandStyleGuide.pdf
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