Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/18pdf/17-1717_4f14.pdf
Page Number: 10

Cite as:  588 U. S. ____ (2019) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

has  also  taken  on  a  secular  meaning.    Indeed,  there  are 
instances  in  which  its  message  is  now  almost  entirely 
secular. 
  A  cross  appears  as  part  of many  registered  trademarks 
held  by  businesses  and  secular  organizations,  including 
Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Bayer Group, and some John-
son  &  Johnson  products.2    Many  of  these  marks  relate  to 
health  care,  and  it  is  likely  that  the  association  of  the 
cross with healing had a religious origin.  But the current 
use of these marks is indisputably secular. 
  The familiar symbol of the Red Cross—a red cross on a 
white  background—shows  how  the  meaning  of  a  symbol 
that  was  originally  religious  can  be  transformed.    The 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) selected 
that symbol in 1863 because it was thought to call to mind 
the  flag  of  Switzerland,  a  country  widely  known  for  its 
neutrality.3  The Swiss flag consists of a white cross on a 
red background.  In an effort to invoke the message asso-
ciated with that flag, the ICRC copied its design with the 
colors  inverted.    Thus,  the  ICRC  selected  this  symbol  for 
an  essentially  secular  reason,  and  the  current  secular 
message of the symbol is shown by its use today in nations 
with  only  tiny  Christian  populations.4    But  the  cross  was 
originally chosen for the Swiss flag for religious reasons.5  

—————— 

2 See  Blue  Cross,  Blue  Shield,  https://www.bcbs.com;  The  Bayer  Group, 
The  Bayer  Cross—Logo  and  Landmark,  https://www.bayer.com/en/logo-
history.aspx;  Band-Aid  Brand  Adhesive  Bandages,  Johnson  &  Johnson 
All Purpose First Aid Kit, https://www.band-aid.com/products/first-aid-
kits/all-purpose (all Internet materials as last visited June 18, 2019). 

3 International Committee of the Red Cross, The History of the Emblems, 
https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/misc/emblem-history.htm. 
4 For  example,  the  Indian  and  Japanese  affiliates  of  the  ICRC  and 
Red  Crescent  Societies use  the symbol of  the  cross.   See Indian  Red Cross 
Society,  https://www.indianredcross.org/ircs/index.php;  Japanese  Red  Cross 
Society, http://www.jrc.or.jp/english /. 

5 See  “Flag  of  Switzerland,”  Britannica  Academic,  https://academic. 

eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/flag-of-Switzerland/93966.