Duk da cewa an kafa kungiyar agaji ta Red Cross din ne 1863 to amma tunanin kafa kungiyar ya faro ne a shekarar 1859 lokacin da dan kasuwan nan kuma mai gudanar da ayyukan jin kai da zamantakewa dan kasar Switzerland wato Jean Henry Dunant wanda daga baya aka fi sani da Henry Dunant, ya irin ababe masu tada hankali da suka faru a lokacin yakin Solferino a kasar Italiya na yanzu, inda dubban mutane suka mutu wasu da dama kuma suka sami raunuka, a bangare guda kuma wadanda suka sami raunukan sun sami samun magani da kulawar da suke bukata. To bayan dawowarsa gida Geneva ne ya yi kira da a kafa kungiyar agaji don ba da taimako ga wadanda suka jikkata a fagen yaki. Hakan ne ya sanya aka kafa kwamitin Red Cross a shekarar 1863.