A method of generating and displaying a graphic trend symbol of a process variable in a process control system of a process control plant, the method comprising: generating, using an update of a process variable value from an element in the process control system, process variable data that indicates one or more process variable attributes, the process variable attributes including one or more process variable trend attributes, and one or more process variable projected state attributes; generating, using the process variable data, one or more graphic trend elements (166-170, 214-230), each graphic trend element (166-170, 214-230) associated with a corresponding one of the process variable trend attributes; generating, using the process variable data, one or more projected state graphic trend elements (172-174, 232-236), each projected state graphic trend element (172-174, 232-236) associated with a corresponding one of the process variable projected state attributes; and displaying the graphic trend symbol (160, 118-122, 128-132, 130-134, 138, 143, 145, 146, 151, 152, 154, 1802, 1804, 1806, 1902, 1904, 1906, 2002, 2004, 2006, 3508-3512, 3514-3518) on a user interface, the graphic trend symbol (160, 118-122, 128-132, 130-134, 138, 143, 145, 146, 151, 152, 154, 1802, 1804, 1806, 1902, 1904, 1906, 2002, 2004, 2006, 3508-3512, 3514-3518) including at least one generated graphic trend element (166-170, 214-230) and at least one generated projected state graphic trend element (172-174, 232-236), the at least one generated graphic trend element (166-170, 214-230) and the at least one generated projected state graphic trend element (172-174, 232-236) not occluding each other. generating, using an update of a process variable value from an element in the process control system, process variable data that indicates one or more process variable attributes, the process variable attributes including one or more process variable trend attributes, and one or more process variable projected state attributes; generating, using the process variable data, one or more graphic trend elements (166-170, 214-230), each graphic trend element (166-170, 214-230) associated with a corresponding one of the process variable trend attributes; generating, using the process variable data, one or more projected state graphic trend elements (172-174, 232-236), each projected state graphic trend element (172-174, 232-236) associated with a corresponding one of the process variable projected state attributes; and displaying the graphic trend symbol (160, 118-122, 128-132, 130-134, 138, 143, 145, 146, 151, 152, 154, 1802, 1804, 1806, 1902, 1904, 1906, 2002, 2004, 2006, 3508-3512, 3514-3518) on a user interface, the graphic trend symbol (160, 118-122, 128-132, 130-134, 138, 143, 145, 146, 151, 152, 154, 1802, 1804, 1806, 1902, 1904, 1906, 2002, 2004, 2006, 3508-3512, 3514-3518) including at least one generated graphic trend element (166-170, 214-230) and at least one generated projected state graphic trend element (172-174, 232-236), the at least one generated graphic trend element (166-170, 214-230) and the at least one generated projected state graphic trend element (172-174, 232-236) not occluding each other.