Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement" in English language version.
After eliminating legal ramifications as a potential deterrent from appropriate use of the Red Cross symbol, the remaining explanation is simple unawareness about the formal distinction from the Swiss national flag. Until formal clarification, we will continue to encounter emergency departments masked as Swiss embassy satellite offices (Figure 2), and ski patrollers disguised as Swiss citizens in the Rocky Mountains (Figure 1).
The governments attending the diplomatic conference, which adopted the original First Geneva Convention in 1864, decided that a clear neutral sign was needed on the battlefield to protect medical staff and facilities. They opted for a red cross on a white background, the exact reverse of the flag of neutral Switzerland.
Art. 18. Out of respect to Switzerland the heraldic emblem of the red cross on a white ground, formed by the reversal of the federal colors, is continued as the emblem and distinctive sign of the sanitary service of armies.
After eliminating legal ramifications as a potential deterrent from appropriate use of the Red Cross symbol, the remaining explanation is simple unawareness about the formal distinction from the Swiss national flag. Until formal clarification, we will continue to encounter emergency departments masked as Swiss embassy satellite offices (Figure 2), and ski patrollers disguised as Swiss citizens in the Rocky Mountains (Figure 1).
After eliminating legal ramifications as a potential deterrent from appropriate use of the Red Cross symbol, the remaining explanation is simple unawareness about the formal distinction from the Swiss national flag. Until formal clarification, we will continue to encounter emergency departments masked as Swiss embassy satellite offices (Figure 2), and ski patrollers disguised as Swiss citizens in the Rocky Mountains (Figure 1).
The governments attending the diplomatic conference, which adopted the original First Geneva Convention in 1864, decided that a clear neutral sign was needed on the battlefield to protect medical staff and facilities. They opted for a red cross on a white background, the exact reverse of the flag of neutral Switzerland.
