![]() ![]() However, from 2000 to 2006 the American Red Cross withheld its dues (a total of $42 million) to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) because of its refusal to admit MDA this ultimately led to the creation of the Red Crystal emblem and the admission of MDA on June 22, 2006. They reasoned that a proliferation of red symbols would detract from the original intention of the Red Cross emblem, which was to be a single emblem to mark vehicles and buildings protected on humanitarian grounds.Ĭertain Arab nations, such as Syria, also protested the entry of MDA into the Red Cross movement, making consensus impossible for a time. The Red Cross & Red Crescent movement repeatedly rejected Israel's request over the years, stating that the Red Cross emblem was not meant to represent Christianity but was a color reversal of the Swiss flag, and also that if Jews (or another group) were to be given another emblem, there would be no end to the number of religious or other groups claiming an emblem for themselves. This emblem is the one used by Magen David Adom (MDA), the national first-aid society of Israel, but it is still not recognized by the Geneva Conventions as a protected symbol. Unrecognized emblems The Red Star of David (Magen David Adom)įor over 50 years, Israel requested the addition of a Red Star of David, arguing that since Christian and Muslim emblems were recognized, the corresponding Jewish emblem should be as well. Though the Red Lion and Sun has now fallen into disuse, Iran has in the past reserved the right to take it up again at any time the Geneva Conventions continue to recognize it as an official emblem, and that status was confirmed by Protocol III even as it added the Red Crystal. In 1980, because of the association of the emblem with the Shah, the newly proclaimed Islamic Republic of Iran replaced the Red Lion and Sun with the Red Crescent, consistent with most other Muslim nations. Though that claim is inconsistent with the Red Crescent's history, that history also suggests that the Red Lion and Sun, like the Red Crescent, may have been conceived during the 1877-1878 war between Russia and Turkey. However, some report the symbol was introduced at Geneva in 1864 as a counter example to the crescent and cross used by two of Iran's rivals, the Ottoman and the Russian empires. The Red Lion and Sun Society of Iran was established in 1922 and admitted to the Red Cross & Red Crescent movement in 1923. Recognized emblems in disuse The Red Lion and Sun Įritrea has said it is planning to use the new symbol, because it has a mixture of Christians and Muslims in the country. As of 14 January 2007, Protocol III is in full effect, and the Red Crystal emblem is now fully recognized under the Geneva Conventions by the nations that have ratified the protocol. On 22 June 2006, along with its recognition of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and Magen David Adom (MDA), the ICRC announced the formal adoption in its statutes of the Red Crystal as a third official symbol. Alternatively, the emblem can be used alone, which may be useful in areas where religious strife may lead to confusion over the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems. Societies that use other emblems may, with prior approval, use their own emblems alongside or inside the Red Crystal at present, the only such society is MDA. Societies can choose to use the Red Crystal emblem alongside the Red Cross and/or Red Crescent emblems, or as a border for a Red Cross or Red Crescent emblem. No country or national society is obliged to change their emblems, and none are obliged to use the new one but all are required to respect it in the same manner as the other emblems. The new emblem was designed to be easily recognizable and, to make it more universally acceptable throughout different cultures, devoid of religious connotation (contrasting the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which are often associated with Christianity and Islam, respectively). On December 8 2005, partly in response to growing pressure to accommodate MDA as a full member of the Red Cross & Red Crescent movement, a new emblem (officially the Third Protocol Emblem, but more commonly known as the Red Crystal) was adopted by an amendment of the Geneva Conventions known as Protocol III. ![]()
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