Display omitted •Graphene considered as a promising carbon nanomaterials with unique properties.•Graphene and their composites present new generation of flame retardant materials.•Graphene sheets have effective ability to form protective char layer as flame retardants.•Graphene sheets have superior flame retardancy effect than clay and CNTs.•Graphene sheets present renewable smart generation of flame retardant materials. Polymeric and textile based materials constitute the majority of market products, however, due to their low thermal stability and high flammability hazards, their uses are limited in some applications. Therefore, flame retardant materials have to be dispersed as fillers in polymer matrix and coated on textile fabrics to enhance their fire safety and thermal stability. Graphene is two-dimensional materials and considered as a promising carbon nanomaterials with sp2-hybridization and with unique properties. In this review article conventional flame retardant and different methods of synthesis of graphene layers were summarized. Also, the possibility of use graphene sheets alone as flame retardant material for polymeric materials was reviewed and compared with other common nanofillers. Graphene sheets and their composite as flame retardant nanofillers for polymers and flame retardant coating for textiles are discussed in details. Synergistic flame retardant effect of use of nanoparticles decorated graphene sheets as flame retardant for polymer nanocomposites are discussed.