History Chronicle of the China Red Cross Society (1904-2004)

Author: Chi Zihua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: Before the Geneva Convention of 1864 was established in Japan, military medical departments and facilities in various countries used flags of different colors as symbols, but these lacked legal protection. In light of this, the founders of the Red Cross movement proposed establishing a symbol that should be simple in design, easily identifiable, widely accepted, and legally protected. In August 1864, the Geneva Diplomatic Conference attended by 12 special representatives from Switzerland and France signed the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in War, which stipulated that all nations should use a white flag with a red cross as a symbol. The choice of this symbol, which is the reverse of the Swiss flag's colors, was made out of respect for Switzerland, the birthplace of the Red Cross movement. It was designated as a protective symbol for medical and relief personnel and facilities during wartime, and its use was long recognized internationally and held legal validity. However, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1876, Turkey declared that the red cross symbol violated the religious beliefs of its soldiers and stated that it would adopt the red crescent symbol to mark its medical vehicles, while still respecting the protection of the enemy's red cross symbol. Although the use of these two symbols would cause confusion, the International Committee of the Red Cross still recommended temporarily accepting the red crescent symbol during hostilities. By 1899, the unity of the red cross symbol was challenged again when Iran proposed using the red lion and sun as an alternative symbol. Based on these differing situations, the 1929 Geneva Convention, passed by the diplomatic conference, explicitly reaffirmed that the red cross symbol was non-religious. At the same time, the red crescent and red lion and sun symbols were officially recognized as legally valid symbols. However, in 1979, Iran abolished the red lion and sun symbol in favor of the red crescent symbol. Later, at the 25th International Conference of the Red Cross held in Geneva in 1986, the Red Cross and Red Crescent achieved equal status in the new statutes, becoming specific symbols for military medical departments and exclusive symbols for national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the only organization that can use both symbols, while the International Committee of the Red Cross continued to use the red cross as its sole symbol. National Red Cross societies, on the other hand, had to choose between the red cross and red crescent symbols. Most countries in the world use the red cross symbol, with a few exceptions such as Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, and some Arab countries using the red crescent symbol. The Chinese Red Cross has used the red cross symbol since its establishment.