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The red cross and red crescent emblems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2010

François Bugnion
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Extract

In the first half of the nineteenth century in Europe, each army used a different colour to mark its medical services: Austria a white flag, France a red one, Spain yellow, others black. Sometimes, the emblems varied from one corps of troops to another. Moreover, the carts used to transport the wounded bore no particular markings to distinguish them from the other army service vehicles, and there was no means of identifying members of the medical corps at a distance.

Type
The Red Cross and Red Crescent Emblems
Information
International Review of the Red Cross (1961 - 1997) , Volume 29 , Issue 272 , October 1989 , pp. 408 - 419
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 1989

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Footnotes

*

This article reflects the author's personal views and does not engage the responsibility of the ICRC.

References

1 “Unpublished documents relative to the foundation of the Red Cross, Minutes of the Committee of Five”. Pictet, Jean S., ed. In: Revue Internationale de la Croix-Rouge, English Supplement, Vol. II, No. 3, 03 1949, pp. 123–140; ad p. 127.Google Scholar

2 Compte rendu de la Conférence Internationale réunie à Genève les 26, 27, 28 et 29 octobre 1863 pour étudier les moyens de pourvoir à l'insuffisance du service sanitaire dans les armées en campagne, Imprimerie Fick, Geneva, 1863, p. 16.Google Scholar

3 Idem, p. 118.

4 Idem, p. 119.

5 Idem, p. 120.

6 Idem, p. 148; International Red Cross Handbook, Twelfth edition, International Committee of the Red Cross—League of Red Cross Societies, Geneva, 1983, p. 548.Google Scholar

7 Compte rendu…, p. 149 Google Scholar; International Red Cross Handbook, p. 548.Google Scholar

8 Compte rendu de la Conférence Internationale pour la Neutralisation du Service de Santé militaire en Campagne, Geneva, 8–22 08 1864 Google Scholar (handwritten), Annex B; International Red Cross Handbook, p. 20.Google Scholar

9 On the origin of the red cross sign, reference may be made to the following works: Dunant, Maurice, “Les origines du drapeau et du brassard de la Croix-Rouge”, La Croix-Rouge Suisse, XXXe année, No. 1, 01 1922, pp. 2–5 Google Scholar; Pictet, Jean, “The Sign of the Red Cross”, Revue Internationale de la Croix-Rouge, English Supplement, Vol. II, No. 4, 04 1949, pp. 143–175 Google Scholar; Frutiger, Perceval, “L'origine du signe de la croix rouge”, Revue internationale de la Croix-Rouge, No. 426, 06 1954, pp. 456–467 Google Scholar; Boissier, Pierre, From Solferino to Tsushima: History of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Henry Dunant Institute, Geneva, 1985, in particular pp. 77–78.Google Scholar

10 Message from the Sublime Porte to the Federal Council, 16 November 1876, quoted in the Bulletin international des Sociétés de Secours aux Militaires blessés. No. 29, 01 1877, pp. 35–37, ad p. 36.Google Scholar

11 For more details, refer to the communications reproduced in the Bulletin international des Sociétés de Secours aux Militaires blesses, No. 29, 01 1877, pp. 35–37; No. 30, 04 1877, pp. 39–47; No. 31, 07 1877, pp. 83–91; No. 32, 10 1877, pp. 147–154 Google Scholar. An account is also given in our study: The Emblem of the Red Cross, A brief history, ICRC, Geneva, 1977.Google Scholar

12 Actes de la Conférence de Révision réunie à Genève du 11 juin au 6 juillet 1906, Imprimerie Henry Jarrys, Geneva, 1906, pp. 17, 63, 160–164, 175, 199, 214, 260 and 286.Google Scholar

13 Actes de la Conférence diplomatique convoquée par le Conseil fédéral suisse pour la Révision de la Convention du 6 juillet 1906 pour l'Amélioration du Sort des Blessés et Malades dans les Armées en Campagne, et pour l'Elaboration d'une Convention relative au Traitement des Prisonniers de Guerre, réunie à Genève du 1er au 27 juillet 1929, Imprimerie du Journal de Geneve, Geneva, 1930, pp. 19, 247–254, 570, 615 and 666.Google Scholar

14 Idem, p. 666.

15 Final Record of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva of 1949, 4 volumes, Federal Political Department, Bern, 1949, Vol. I, pp. 53, 213 and 348 Google Scholar; Vol. II–A, pp. 89–92, 150–151, 187–188, 197–198; Vol. II–B, pp. 223–232, 255–262, 393–395, 518–520 and 534; Vol. III, pp. 40, 167–168 and 176–179.

16 Idem, Vol. I, p. 213; International Red Cross Handbook, p. 37.Google Scholar

17 Final Record of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva of 1949, Vol. I, p. 348.Google Scholar

18 Official Records of the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, (Geneva, 1974–1977), 17 volumes, Federal Political Department, Bern, 1978, Vol. III, p. 14.Google Scholar

19 “Adoption of the red crescent by the Islamic Republic of Iran”, International Review of the Red Cross, No. 219, 11–12 1980, pp. 316–317.Google Scholar

20 Twenty-third International Conference of the Red Cross, Bucharest 15–21 October 1977, Report, pp. 60 and 149.Google Scholar

21 Twenty-fourth International Conference of the Red Cross, Manila 7–14 November 1981, Report, pp. 49–58 and 171–172 Google Scholar; International Review of the Red Cross, No. 226, 01–02 1982, pp. 35–39.Google Scholar

22 Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (adopted by the Twenty-fifth International Conference of the Red Cross, Geneva, October 1986), International Review of the Red Cross, No. 256, 01–02 1987, pp. 25–44.Google Scholar

23 The validity of Israel's reservation has been challenged, inter alia, by Pilloud, Claude, “Reservations to the Geneva Conventions of 1949”, International Review of the Red Cross, No. 180, 03 1976, pp. 107–124 Google Scholar, and No. 181, April 1976, pp. 163–187; the opposite view is defended by Rosenne, Shabtai, “The Red Cross, Red Crescent, Red Lion and Sun and the Red Shield of David”, Israel Yearbook on Human Rights, Vol. 5, 1975, pp. 9–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

24 Seventeenth International Conference of the Red Cross, Stockholm, 20–30 August 1948, Report, pp. 77–78 and 89–90 Google Scholar; Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Article 4, paragraph 5, International Review of the Red Cross, No. 256, 01–02 1987, pp. 31–32.Google Scholar

25 The Alliance of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the USSR is a special case. In the spirit of the Constitution of 31 January 1924, which conferred a federative structure upon the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Russian Red Cross was reorganized to ensure the decentralization and autonomy of its branches in the various Republics. At the national level, these branches were recognized as autonomous Societies and their choice of the red cross or red crescent emblem was determined according to the group which composed the majority of the population in each case. These Societies established a co-ordinating body in Moscow, the Alliance of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies of the USSR, which is responsible, inter alia, for representing them internationally. For administrative purposes, the Alliance uses the double emblem of the red cross and red crescent. However, to the best of our knowledge, each Society uses its own emblem in its operational activities.