Red Cross and Red Crescent flags

Geneva Convention

Last modified: 2005-07-09 by rob raeside
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          by Alvin Heims, 29 Nov 1999

• 1949 Geneva Convention
  • Shape and orientation of emblems on flags
• Red Cross
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Kindersley (1997) states (in the Tonga page) that the flag with the red cross coupee was adopted in 1863.
António Martins, 12 March 1999

1949 Geneva Convention

The following summarizes the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions that govern the use of the Red Cross, Red Crescent, and Red Lion and Sun flags. Geneva I governs land warfare, Geneva II governs warfare at sea. There are also Geneva III and IV, but they have no provisos concerning flags:

Geneva I, Art. 38, provides for use of the Swiss federal arms in reversed colors, the red cross on a white ground, as the emblem and distinctive sign of the Medical Service of armed forces. [This was originally provided for in article VII of the first Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Wounded in Armies in the Field, signed on August 22, 1864.] The red crescent or red lion and sun, in lieu of the red cross, will be recognized for use by countries that were already using those devices when the 1949 convention was adopted.

Geneva I, Art. 39, requires the emblem (red cross, etc.) to be displayed on the flags, armlets and on all equipment employed in the Medical Service. The same provision is also contained in Geneva II, Art. 41.

Geneva I, Art. 42, limits the display of "the distinctive flag of the Convention" to medical units and establishments entitled to be respected under the Convention and permits it to be displayed in conjunction with the national flag of the party to which the unit or establishment belongs. [The 1864 convention required it to be displayed with the national flag.] When medical units fall into the hands of the enemy, they display only the flag of the Convention.

Geneva I, Art. 43, requires medical units of neutral countries "which may have been authorized to lend their services to a belligerent" to fly the flag of the Convention and the national flag of the belligerent to which they have been lent, and permits them to fly their own national flag as well. Such neutral medical units may continue to fly their ow