Standardization of the Quick Response Code

National codification

Following the symbology's 1994 release, Denso Wave submitted the specification to the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee, which codified it as JIS X 0510. The Japanese standard remains a normative reference in domestic implementations.

AIM International

Prior to ISO publication, AIM International — the trade association representing automatic identification manufacturers — published the Quick Response Code as part of its Uniform Symbology Specification in 1997, providing the first English-language normative reference for international implementers.

International codification

The International Organization for Standardization, jointly with the International Electrotechnical Commission, published the symbology as ISO/IEC 18004 in 2000. The standard has been revised twice: in 2006, which added the Micro QR variant; and in 2015, which incorporated the iQR and rMQR variants and clarified production-quality requirements.

Current normative reference

The current normative reference for the Quick Response Code is ISO/IEC 18004:2015. It specifies data characters, encoding modes, symbol structure, error-correction scheme, reference decode algorithm, and production-quality requirements. The full standards catalog is documented under the Standards pillar.