The work aims to study the application progress of pyrene and its derivatives in fluorescent probes and organic electroluminescence. The source and structure characteristics of pyrene fluorescent materials were sketched and the features of fluorescent material were analyzed. The application research progress of pyrene and its derivatives in the fluorescent probes was summarized, including probing the formation of nanocomposite hydrogels, quantitative monitoring of the polymer diffusion in latex films, studying the hydrophobic microdomain in solution of oat β-glucan, detecting metal mercury ions in aqueous solution and reviewing the application research progress of pyrene and its derivatives in the organic electroluminescence. In addition, the development prospects of pyrene and its derivatives in waterborne anti-counterfeit fluorescent ink were envisaged. In addition to the application in fluorescent probes and organic electroluminescence, etc., pyrene fluorescent material can also be used as a functional fluorescent pigment to prepare waterborne fluorescent ink, which is consequently applied in the anti-counterfeiting packaging.