page_title: Emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
section_title: Use of the emblems
hierarchical_section_title: Emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement / Use of the emblems
context_page_description: The emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, under the Geneva Conventions, are to be placed on humanitarian and medical vehicles and buildings, and to be worn by medical personnel and others carrying out humanitarian work, to protect them from military attack on the battlefield. There are four such emblems, three of which are in use: the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and the Red Crystal. The Red Lion and Sun is also a recognized emblem, but is no longer in use.
  There were also prior disputes concerning the use of a Red Star of David by Magen David Adom, the Israeli first-aid society; the Red Crystal was created in response to these disputes, thus enabling the admission of MDA to the movement.
  In popular culture, the red cross symbol came to be a recognizable generic emblem for medicine, commonly associated with first aid, medical services, products, or professionals; it has been unlawfully used in toys, movies, and video games, outside its defined context. After objections from the movement, derivatives and alternatives have come to be used instead. Additionally, Johnson & Johnson has registered the symbol for their medicinal products.
context_section_description: As specified by the Geneva Conventions, the four recognized emblems are to be used only to denote the following:
  facilities for the care of injured and sick armed forces members;
  armed forces medical personnel and equipment;
  military chaplains;
  International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the 190 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies.
  In order to ensure universal respect for the emblems, the Geneva Conventions obliged their signatories to forbid any other use of the names and emblems in wartime and peacetime.
  Nevertheless, the illegal usage of the emblem is widespread and it is often used as a general symbol to indicate first aid, medical supplies and civilian medical services especially in walk-in clinics. Such uses appear in movies (a notable example is The Living Daylights, wherein narcotics were disguised as Red Cross care packages, as a plot device), on television, and in computer software and games. Service companies, such as those for car repair or lawn maintenance, tout themselves as service "doctors" and incorporate medical symbols to promote themselves.
  Prior to 1973, ambulances in the United States and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere were typically marked with a safety orange cross, differing from the red cross only in its hue. Toys and paintings of ambulances commonly ignored even that nuance, instead using a red cross. After protests from the American Red Cross that the safety orange cross was insufficiently distinguishable from the protected Red Cross symbol, the U.S. Department of Transportation developed the blue Star of Life as a replacement for the safety orange cross. The blue Star of Life has since been adopted throughout much of the world on ambulances and in other related applications.
  In 2006, the Canadian Red Cross issued a press release asking video game makers to stop using the red cross in their games; it is an especially common sight to see first aid kits and other items which restore the player character's health marked with a red cross. In order to avoid this conflict, a green cross is often used as a generic alternative.
  Pre-existing trademarks are protected in the implementing legislation of other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom and its dependencies. In many countries, it is a violation of the rule of law to seize intellectual property lawfully created prior to a ban without compensating its owner through eminent domain, with limited exceptions for offensive or dangerous uses. (For example, a Red Cross on a building conveys a potentially false and dangerous impression of military presence in the area to enemy aircraft, although the building itself would not be attacked; thus the U.S. reservations to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, as noted below, effectively ban that use.) In recognition of this fact, Protocol III expressly preserves most pre-2005 trademarks containing the Red Crystal, as long as they cannot be confused with military uses. Trademarks from after 2005 bearing the emblem are banned as there is no longer an issue of retroactive law.
  The flag of Tonga designed in 1862 happened to be a red cross on a white field; in 1866, when the similarity to the Red Cross flag was noted, the Tonga flag was changed to put the red cross in a canton.
caption: Belgian Red Cross volunteers
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