Emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
Under the Geneva Conventions, the emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are to be worn by all medical and humanitarian personnel and also displayed on their vehicles and buildings while they are in an active warzone, and all military forces operating in an active warzone must not attack entities displaying these emblems. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement recognizes four protection emblems, three of which are in use: the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, the Red Lion and Sun, and the Red Crystal.
The Red Cross was the original protection symbol declared at the First Geneva Convention in 1864. The Red Crescent, which was first used by the Ottoman Empire in the 1870s, and the Red Lion and Sun, which had been used only in Iran between 1924 and 1980, were both formally recognized as protection symbols following a 1929 amendment to the Geneva Conventions. Controversy stemming from the movement's successive rejections of the Red Star of David, which was established in 1899 and has been used only in Israel, led to the creation of the Red Crystal as the fourth protection symbol by a vote in 2005. In 2006, the movement announced that it was officially adopting the Red Crystal as a neutral symbol and that it was also granting formal recognition to Israel's Magen David Adom alongside the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
In popular culture, the red cross symbol came to be a recognizable generic emblem for medicine, commonly associated with first aid, medical services, products, or professionals; it has been [|unlawfully used] in toys, movies, and video games, outside of its defined context. After objections from the movement, derivatives and alternatives have come to be used instead. Additionally, Johnson & Johnson has registered the symbol for their medicinal products. The appropriation of the symbol has led to further irritation due to the practice of hospitals, first aid teams, and ski patrols in the United States reversing the symbol to a white cross on a red background—so undoing the original idea of the Red Cross emblem, namely reversing the Swiss flag—thus inappropriately suggesting an affiliation with Switzerland.
Symbols of the movement
Protection symbols vs. organizational emblems
The symbols described below have two distinctively different meanings. On one hand, the visual symbols of the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, the Red Lion with Sun and the Red Crystal serve as protection markings in armed conflicts, a denotation which is derived from and defined in the Geneva Conventions. This is called the protective use of the symbols. On the other hand, these symbols are used as distinctive logos by those organizations which are part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. This is the indicative use of the emblems, a meaning which is defined in the statutes of the International Movement and partly in the third Additional Protocol.As a protection symbol, they are used in armed conflicts to mark persons and objects which are working in compliance with the rules of the Geneva Conventions. In this function, they can also be used by organizations and objects which are not part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, for example the medical services of the armed forces, civilian hospitals, and civil defense units. As protection symbols, these emblems should be used without any additional specification and in a prominent manner which makes them as visible and observable as possible, for example by using large white flags bearing the symbol. Four of these symbols, namely the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, the Red Lion with Sun and the Red Crystal, are defined in the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols as symbols for protective use.
When used as an organizational logo, these symbols only indicate that persons, vehicles, buildings, etc. which bear the symbols belong to a specific organization which is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. In this case, they should be used with an additional specification and not be displayed as prominently as when used as protection symbols. Three of these symbols, namely the Red Cross, the Red Crescent and the Red Crystal, can be used for indicative purposes by national societies for use in their home country or abroad. In addition to that, the Red Shield of David can be used by the Israel society Magen David Adom for indicative purposes within Israel, and, pending the approval of the respective host country, in combination with the Red Crystal when working abroad.
Red Cross
The Red Cross on white background was the original protection symbol declared at the 1864 Geneva Convention. The ideas to introduce a uniform and neutral protection symbol as well as its specific design originally came from Dr. Louis Appia, a Swiss surgeon, and Swiss General Henri Dufour, founding members of the International Committee.The red cross symbolizes as an identifier for medical personnel during wartime. The Red Cross is defined as a protection symbol in Article 7 of the 1864 Geneva Convention, Chapter VII and Article 38 of the 1949 Geneva Convention. There is an unofficial agreement within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that the shape of the cross should be a cross composed of five squares. However, regardless of the shape, any Red Cross on white background should be valid and must be recognized as a protection symbol in conflict. Of the 190 National Societies which are currently recognized by the ICRC, 154 are using the Red Cross as their official organization emblem.
Relationship to the flag of Switzerland
According to the ICRC, the emblem adopted was formed by reversing the colours of the flag of Switzerland. This was officially recorded in the 1906 revision of the convention. However, according to jurist and Red Cross historian Pierre Boissier, no clear evidence of this origin has been found; the concept that the design was chosen to complement the country in which the convention at which it was adopted was held, was also promoted later to counter the objections of Turkey that the flag was a Christian symbol.Similar symbols
Some Christian religious orders, and organizations descended from these orders, lay claim to symbols that resemble, but are unrelated to, the Red Cross. These include the Order of Santiago, which uses a red Cross of Saint James; the Camillians, who use a red Latin cross; and descendant organizations of the Knights Hospitaller, which often use a white Maltese cross. Some of these organizations, like the Camillians and Sovereign Military Order of Malta, are engaged in humanitarian or medical work.Red Crescent
During the Russo-Turkish War from 1877 to 1878, the Ottoman Empire used a Red Crescent instead of the Red Cross because its government believed that the cross would alienate its Muslim soldiers. When asked by the ICRC in 1877, Russia committed to fully respect the sanctity of all persons and facilities bearing the Red Crescent symbol, followed by a similar commitment from the Ottoman government to respect the Red Cross. After this de facto assessment of equal validity to both symbols, the ICRC declared in 1878 that it should be possible in principle to adopt an additional official protection symbol for non-Christian countries. The Red Crescent was formally recognized in 1929 when the Geneva Conventions were amended. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Red Crescent was first used by its successor nation Turkey, followed by Egypt. From its official recognition to today, the Red Crescent became the organizational emblem of nearly every national society in countries with majority Muslim populations except Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Kosovo. The national societies of some countries such as Pakistan, Malaysia, and Bangladesh have officially changed their name and emblem from the Red Cross to the Red Crescent. The Red Crescent is used by 33 of the 190 recognized societies worldwide.Red Crystal
The introduction of an additional neutral protection symbol had been under discussion for a number of years, with the Red Crystal being the most popular proposal. However, amending the Geneva Conventions to add a new protection symbol requires a diplomatic conference of all 192 signatory states to the Conventions. The Swiss government organized such a conference to take place on December 5–6, 2005, to adopt a third additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions introducing the Red Crystal as an additional symbol with equal status to the Red Cross or Red Crescent. Following an unplanned extension of the conference until December 7, the protocol was adopted after a vote successfully achieved the required two-thirds majority. From the countries which attended the conference, 98 voted in favour and 27 against the protocol, while 10 countries abstained from voting.In the third Protocol the new symbol is referred to as "the third Protocol emblem". The rules for the use of this symbol, based on the third additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions, are the following:
- Within its own national territory, a national society can use either of the recognized symbols alone, or incorporate any of these symbols or a combination of them into the Red Crystal. Furthermore, a national society can choose to display a previously and effectively used symbol, after officially communicating this symbol to the state parties of the Geneva Conventions through Switzerland as the depositary state prior to the adoption of the proposed third additional protocol.
- For indicative use on foreign territory, a national society which does not use one of the recognized symbols as its emblem has to incorporate its unique symbol into the Red Crystal, based on the previously mentioned condition about communicating its unique symbol to the state parties of the Geneva Conventions.
- For protective use, only the symbols recognized by the Geneva Conventions can be used. Specifically, those national societies which do not use one of the recognized symbols as their emblem have to use the Red Crystal without incorporation of any additional symbol.