In the middle of the 19th century, as Europe's commercial economy became increasingly prosperous, countries competing for markets continued to fight each other in battle, killing people in the fields, and killing people in the cities, so that the medical departments of each country's army were unable to deal with the problem of rescuing and treating the sick and wounded in the field on its own. Therefore, after a bloody battle, often corpses are everywhere, moaning and crying, miserable, can not bear to die. There was a man named Jean-Henri I. Jean-Henri Dunant A Swiss named Jean-Henri Dunant (1828-19LO) arrived in Lombardy region of northern Italy on June 25, 1859, on his way to meet with Emperor Napoleon III of France. At this time, Emperor Napoleon was leading the French army and the army of the withdrawal of the Austrian army on the one hand and on the other, for the Lombardy region of the successive bloody battles in the Magenta and Solferino two places. Solferino battle, both sides of the capital killed more than 40,000 people, a large number of wounded soldiers were abandoned on the battlefield, the scorching sun, no one rescue, the situation is very miserable. Du Nan witnessed this scene, out of human sympathy and compassion, immediately called on the residents of the area, together with him to organize, regardless of nationality, rescue and care of the abandoned wounded soldiers, before and after eight days.
Dunan returned to Geneva and told the public about his experiences at the battlefield of Solferino. He was encouraged to write a book to inspire the world's conscience. Three years later, in November 1862, Dunant published his famous book, Memories of Solferino, in Geneva. In this book, Dunant recounted what he had seen and heard at Solferino and the stories of the wounded soldiers he had rescued. At the end of the book, he suggests (1) the establishment of wounded soldiers' ambulance organizations in various countries; (2) the convening of an international conference to study and formulate an international convention to protect the rights and interests of wounded soldiers and wounded soldiers' ambulance organizations. He actively lobbied the rulers of Germany and Austria, and his initiative gained the enthusiastic support of the upper classes in all European countries. Thus, on February 9, 1863, Dunant, together with General Dufour, Lawyer Moynier, and the two doctors Appiah and Monois, formed the International Committee for the Relief of Wounded Soldiers under the jurisdiction of the Geneva Public **** Welfare Association, or the Committee of the Five; its first president was General Dufour, and Shenan was the secretary of the International Committee, and the Red Cross was thus born. By 1880, the Committee of Five had officially changed its name to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
At the initiative and urging of the International Committee for the Relief of the Wounded and Soldiers, an international conference called the Preparatory Conference was held in Geneva from October 26 to 29, 1863, attended by 36 delegates from 16 countries. The conference adopted ten resolutions and three recommendations, advocating in particular:
(1) the establishment of ambulance committees in each country to assist the 'Army' medical corps in wartime;
(2) the work of training male nurses in peacetime;
(3) the neutrality of ambulances, army hospitals, and medical personnel;
(4) Adoption of a uniform identification mark, i.e., the Red Cross flag and armband on a white background.
The Committee of Five, and Dunant in particular, worked tirelessly to persuade European countries to send delegates to Geneva to study the development of an international convention to protect the rights and interests of wounded soldiers and wounded ambulance groups. A diplomatic conference of 12 plenipotentiaries was held in Geneva between August 8 and 22, 1864, at the initiative of the Swiss Federal Council and the French government. The Conference adopted the draft convention proposed by the Committee of Five with little modification, and on August 22, it formally signed the Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, the First Geneva Convention. The Conventions, which consisted of only ten articles, summarized the resolutions adopted by the Preparatory Conference in 1863 and legally affirmed them in the form of an international convention, and set a normative model for international humanitarian law on war. The International Red Cross Movement and its special role in armed conflicts were henceforth formally recognized in international conventions.
Subsequently, at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, 43 Red Cross societies were established in the major countries of Europe, Asia and the United States. The Red Cross Society of China was also born on May 29, 1904 in Shanghai. By April 1987, 145 national Red Cross or Red Crescent societies had officially joined the International Red Cross Movement.
The origin, categories and use of the Red Cross emblem
The four existing Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 formally recognized the three field ambulance distinguishing signs, namely the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and the Red Lion and the Sun. 1982 saw the abolition of the Red Lion and Sun standards. The medical services of the armed forces, in the course of their service in the field, use these emblems to identify their medical equipment, personnel, vehicles, ships, aircraft, premises, etc., which are all protected by the Geneva Conventions and are not liable to attack at will. The subsequent Geneva Conventions further specified that the Red Cross emblem is made by reversing the colors of the Swiss flag. This was done to honor Switzerland, as Geneva is the birthplace of the Red Cross. This shows that the Red Cross symbol has no connection with religious superstition.
The Red Cross emblem is usually made up of five equal-sized red squares. The regulations of the International Red Cross do not strictly regulate the size and proportion of the Red Cross emblem itself, but only state that the two red rectangles should be vertically intersected, and that the length of the center to each end should be equal. This is the reason why the common Red Cross emblems vary from place to place and the specifications are not uniform. Of course, it is best to make the five squares cast in the aforementioned manner, more in line with the standards agreed upon by all.
In 1876, the Turkish government, which was at war with Tsarist Russia, informed the Swiss Federal Council that "the Red Cross emblem offended the religious beliefs of the country's soldiers," and that the country's army had adopted the Red Crescent instead of the Red Cross emblem to mark the ambulances they used. Turkey's approach was subsequently followed by a number of Arab and Islamic-dominated countries, which also adopted the Red Crescent emblem.
Why did the Red Cross symbol offend the religious beliefs of Turkish soldiers? To explain this, we need to take a brief look at a small piece of world history. Between the 11th and 13th centuries, Christianity was practiced in Western Europe, and the princes, nobles, and missionaries of various countries attempted to recapture the holy city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land of Christ from the Muslims by rallying the faithful to the Crusades (the most famous of which was as many as eight), when the flag he still used was the symbol of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Although the Crusades ended in failure, since then the countries practicing Islam have regarded the cross as a forbidden object and have avoided using it. This sentiment is naturally reflected in the use of the Red Cross emblem. However, some countries with strong Islamic influence, such as Lebanon, Indonesia and Bangladesh, have not adopted the Red Crescent emblem and still use the Red Cross emblem, which is used by most countries.
The Red Crescent emblem has two forms, one curved to the left and the other to the right, and the International Red Cross generally adopts the Red Crescent curved to the right. As for the size of the emblem, like the Red Cross emblem, there is no standardized pattern to follow.
Iran adopted the red lion and the sun as the emblem of the country's Red Cross organization from 1923. However, after the Iranian revolution, on July 4, 1980, it officially notified the International Red Cross that it would abandon the use of the Red Lion and Sun emblem in favor of the Red Crescent emblem. Thus, by July 1980, the three Red Cross emblems recognized by the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 actually existed only as the Red Cross and Red Crescent. In newspaper articles, we still sometimes see the statement that "the Red Cross organization uses three different emblems", which is obviously not true due to the lack of information.
At present, out of 144 members of the IFRC national societies, 119 use the Red Cross emblem and 24 use the Red Crescent emblem, leaving the former USSR as the only Red Cross organization that uses both emblems.
II. Use of the Red Cross Emblem
In accordance with Article 44 of the first Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949, the Red Cross Emblem (to which the Red Crescent Emblem also applies) has two distinct qualities, protective and illustrative. The former refers to the persons, equipment, vehicles, institutions, etc., using the emblem, which are protected by the relevant provisions of the Convention; the latter merely describes or indicates that the person or something using the emblem is only related to or subordinate to the Red Cross and is not protected by the Convention. The use of the Red Cross emblem is, in the first place, the competence of the military authorities, and in particular of the medical services of the armed forces. Accordingly, the use of the Red Cross emblem should, as a rule, be authorized by the military authorities concerned and should not be used for commercial activities for profit. In time of war, such authorization is granted in particular to military medical units engaged in the rescue of the sick and wounded, i.e. its personnel may wear the Red Cross armband during field rescues; its ambulances, hospital ships, medical aircraft, hospitals, etc., may fly the Red Cross flag; its medical equipment may be affixed with the Red Cross emblem; and so on. Both belligerent parties shall give protection in accordance with the Convention and shall not violate it. However, once these personnel, equipment, facilities, institutions, etc., are no longer in the service of the sick and wounded in the field, they are no longer under the protection of the Convention; and if hospitals, ambulances, etc., are used for the purpose of covering or transporting troops in combat, this constitutes a violation of the Convention.
The States parties to the Geneva Conventions have enacted strict domestic legislation in accordance with the requirements of the Conventions, which clearly defines the use of the Red Cross emblem. Generally speaking, the Red Cross is not authorized to use the protective emblem, but in peacetime it may use the Red Cross emblem in accordance with the provisions of its domestic legislation, although such use does not, of course, contain any protective significance. The International Red Cross provides that members of national Red Cross societies, youth members, Red Cross-trained first-aiders, hygienists, etc., may wear Red Cross badges, epaulettes, lapel pins, badges, caps, pins, etc., and that it is desirable that the Red Cross Emblem of such badges, etc., should be surrounded by a pattern of ornaments or be engraved with the type of the wearer's character. The emblem should be as small as possible and should not be too large. Premises fully occupied by the Red Cross may also be painted with the Red Cross emblem or fly the Red Cross flag; where they are partially occupied, the Red Cross emblem may be hung only in the offices of the occupied part; and where they are owned by the Red Cross and are not occupied, they may only be hung with the Society's plate without the emblem. Others, such as ambulances, first-aid stations, etc., may be painted with or display the Red Cross emblem if they are owned and used by the Red Cross. Publications of the Red Cross, or articles sold in connection with fund-raising, may also bear the Red Cross emblem. Relief goods distributed free of charge to victims of disasters may also bear the Red Cross emblem. Relief materials destined for foreign countries may be given preferential treatment in the form of reduced or exempted transportation fees when the Red Cross Emblem is affixed to them, and priority is given to the rush transportation of emergency relief materials in particular. The use of the emblem by non-Red Cross organizations must be approved in advance by the relevant authorities and the Red Cross, and they must not act on their own.