To address the issue of rare earth upconversion nanomaterials (UCNPs) with single fluorescence mode showing poor anti-counterfeiting effect, by modifying the emission mode, the multi-mode phosphors-based UCNPs were used to realize multi-dimensional hiding of information, to increase the difficulty of copying anti-counterfeiting information and to achieve high-level anti-counterfeiting applications in multi-scenario commodity packaging. The recent research progress were reviewed on the modification of multi-modal emission of UCNPs through matrix adjustment, core-shell assembly, or recombination of other phosphors and their packaging anti-counterfeiting applications. Furthermore, the challenges and research direction for promoting the commercial application of packaging anti-counterfeiting technologies-based UCNPs were also discussed.