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Red Cross

Red Cross

Red Cross

A famous variation of the Greek cross is the emblem of the Red Cross movement. More than one hundred years ago, this organisation was founded to aid those wounded in battle. The objective of the Red Cross emblem was to have a unified and distinctive sign that would be respected internationally.

Until the early 19th century, each country's army used a different coloured flag to mark its medical services: blood-red for France, peace-white for Austria, disease-yellow for Spain, morbid-black for other countries. Hospital tents, medical workers and vehicles transporting the wounded, would be as vulnerable as any other military collateral, so it was common sense for countries to agree on a standard and easily recognisable sign for all armies. Such was proposed in 1863 by the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, forerunner of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

In 1864, the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation convened a diplomatic conference which adopted the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field. This included the use of the red cross emblem.

The reason a red cross on white background was chosen is not recorded in the minutes of the conference, so we are left to speculate:

• It might be from the red cross on white background of the crusader's cross. If true, then this historical origin is deliberately subdued to avoid offending Muslims. However, the Red Cross is devoted to conquering strife, and this warrants a fighting symbol.

• Some say it is the bloodied bandage on a white bed-sheet, like the red/white stripes of a barber shop sign.

• Others say the red cross is in recognition of early proponents Henri Dunant and Dr. Brire. These men were from Switzerland and the red cross on white background is the inverse of the Swiss flag. To avoid confusion with the flag of England, the cross arms were shortened to produce a humetty cross like that on the Swiss flag.

  
  English

  
  Red

  
  Swiss

  (The situation was reversed for the Kingdom of Tonga, the only monarchy in the Pacific. Their flag of 1862 was almost identical to the Red Cross so they modified it to avoid confusion. The red signifies the blood of Christ and was probably inspired by the English flag.)

  
  Flag of Tonga

• Hundreds of years before all this, the red cross was used as a symbol of grief during the European plague (see Black Death Cross).
• Then, in 1575 Camillo de Lellis, an Italian soldier from a distinguished military family, met a monk who convinced him that being a professional killer was wrong. While receiving treatment for a leg wound at the San Giacomo hospital in Rome, Camillo decided to switch from his military life to become a medical worker and it was not long before he became the hospital chief. He was instrumental in encouraging others to join him and his group was soon recognised by the pope, who granted them the right to wear a cross on their robes. The cross was - yes, you've guessed it - red.
  
  Having acquired this bona fide Christian congregation status, priests joined the group and Camillo decided to become a priest himself. In 1591, Pope Gregorio XIV made the congregation a religious order, the Ordine dei Ministri degli Infermi. Over 100 years after his death, Camillo was made patron saint of hospitals and nurses.
  
  The Order of Camillians are still going strong, still focus their attention on caring for the sick and wounded, and still bear the red cross. It is possible that the Geneva Convention adopted the red cross emblem because of Camillo, patron saint of hospitals and nurses.

Although most Federal Council conference attendees were from 'Christian' countries, it is unlikely that they intended to give any religious significance to the emblem. (One of the aims of the group was humanitarianism between all nations and cultures.) But not everyone was comfortable about the red cross emblem. The armies of the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) preferred a Muslim crescent rather than a Christian cross. So the red cross or a red crescent could be used, or even a composite banner (see also Crescent Cross). Later, Persia (now Iran) preferred their national identity of a red lion and sun. So in 1929, to avoid offending Muslims and Persians, the Diplomatic Conference agreed the emblem as a red cross or a red crescent or a red lion and sun. (The latter has since fallen into disuse and Iran has officially been using the red crescent since 1980.)

Red Cross (Europe)

Red Crescent (Ottoman Empire)

Red Lion and Sun (Persia)

Understandably, Jews felt left out of this and Israel formally requested the addition of a Red Star of David. (Judaism doesn't have a flag of its own. Various tribes had their own symbol and the Star of David is usually recognised as the Jewish emblem. Their desire to have their own symbol isn't as intolerant as it might sound - of the 1,500 Magen David Adom volunteer medics in Jerusalem, 75 are Arabs, and more are sought)

More recently, in 1977, India also requested a symbol different to the cross or crescent, as did several other countries.

Magen David Adom (Israel)

Red Wheel (India)

Mehrab-e-Ahmar (Afghanistan)

Red Lamb (Congo)

Hakuai Sha (Japan)

Red Cedar (Lebanon)

Red Rhinoceros (Sudan)

Red Palm (Syria)

Sapa Unalom Daeng (Thailand)

Red Star (Zimbabwe)

These requests seem fair, but were rejected on the grounds that having too many emblems would defeat the original goal of having just one, easily recognisable symbol that could be used to identify collateral that should be protected. Territorialism goes against everything the movement stands for. The issue remained however that the main symbols, the cross and crescent, are used as religious symbols.

Therefore in December 2005 a Diplomatic Conference in Geneva adopted a Third Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, creating an additional emblem alongside the red cross and red crescent. Having no religious, political, racial, ideological or any other connotation, the new emblem adopted was the red crystal.

Red Cross

Red Crescent

Red Crystal

It is interesting to note from all this, that the most vociferous objectors to the emblem were the Israelis. As mentioned above, their frustration is understandable, but given that Israel is a relatively small country of 6 million people, they had a difficult time trying to persuade the international community that their symbol should be used. Even considering the number of Jewish adherents worldwide, Judaism is tiny compared to other religions. www.adherents.com estimates there are only 14 million Jews in the world, compared to 2 billion Christians and 1.3 billion Muslims. In contrast, agnostics, atheists, Hindus and Buddhists have shown remarkable restraint in the acceptance and tolerance of the red cross and red crescent.

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And if this tolerance could be extended, to the point where we respect others as though they were family... No, let's go further than that... to the point where we love others as much as we love ourselves (see Matthew 22:37), then the Red Cross and Red Crescent movements would become obsolete.

On 10th March 1945, the U.S. fire-bombed of Tokyo, burning to death 100,000 men, women and children in just 2 1/2 hours. On the anniversary 60 years later, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara took a break from his usual barking of nationalism and right-wing views, and said: "We must increasingly deepen our mutual understanding with people around the world in order to realise lasting peace."

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The red blood / white bandage combination is seen in hospital related images worldwide, especially in the military


Saoirse Ronan as Briony in the 2007 film 'Atonement'