# Red Cross **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760 "2002-07-01T00:43:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lost\_In\_Reality](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Lost\_In\_Reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lost_In_Reality)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/1 "2002-07-01T00:43:21Z")
Someone once told me that the Red Star of David, the emergency health service of Israel, wasn’t part of the Red Cross Red Crescent Federation. Is this true? If so, why? Also, will whoever controls the Red Cross make it non-denominational eventually? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/2 "2002-07-01T03:35:11Z")
> [@](#): > > **Someone once told me that the Red Star of David, the emergency health service of Israel, wasn’t part of the Red Cross Red Crescent Federation.** They are, and they aren’t. They have a problem with using either a cross or a crescent, so they use a star, but they’re still a National Society. [http://www.ifrc.org/who/emblem.asp](http://www.ifrc.org/who/emblem.asp) > [@](#): > > …The emblems go back a long way. The red cross on a white background was formally adopted in the first Geneva Convention of 1864. The red crescent was adopted by the Ottoman empire in 1876 during the war with Russia. It was recognized in the 1929 Geneva Convention along with the red lion and sun of Persia. > > For National Societies, the emblem serves two purposes; it is “indicative” (it is their logo or identification when undertaking their normal work) and it is “protective” (a protective device when they, and the medical services of their country’s armed forces, are involved in conflict.) The rules on the use of these emblems are defined in international law under the Geneva Conventions of 1949. > > \< snip \> > > Current problems > > The emblems worked well for a long time, but in recent decades two problems have arisen. Firstly, in some conflicts the cross or the crescent have been interpreted as having a religious significance. They do not, but this fact has occasionally compromised the neutral nature of the emblems, putting lives at risk. > > Secondly, some countries and their National Societies have not felt comfortable using either the red cross or red crescent. **This is the case for the Israeli society which uses a red star of David,** and the Society of Eritrea which uses both a red crescent and a red cross. [_bolding mine_] AFAIK, the Red Cross already is non-denominational. Do you have information to the contrary? [http://www.ifrc.org/who/](http://www.ifrc.org/who/) > [@](#): > > Our mission and role > The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, providing assistance without discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. > > Founded in 1919, the International Federation comprises 178 member Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, a Secretariat in Geneva and more than 60 delegations strategically located to support activities around the world. There are more societies in formation. The Red Crescent is used in place of the Red Cross in many Islamic countries. ---
**Author:** ![Lost\_In\_Reality](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Lost\_In\_Reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lost_In_Reality)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/3 "2002-07-01T03:46:17Z")
Ok thanks a lot. When I meant non-denominational I meant symbol-wise. Wouldn’t it be easier if it was just like the Red Triangle? That way all countries can have one unifed humanitarian service. Second, how come the federation is only Red Cross and Red Crescent and not Red Star of David and Red Crescent/Cross? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/4 "2002-07-01T04:10:32Z")
Well, they are apparently [working on the emblem issue](http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList91/D13479EF18FF620BC1256B66005E2774). The reason it’s “Red Cross Red Crescent” and not “Red Cross Red Crescent Red Star” is because out of 178 National Societies, only one–Israel–isn’t using either the cross or the crescent. So why should they change the name just for one member? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/5 "2002-07-01T04:56:19Z")
Doesn’t Iran’s national society use a lion or some other critter? ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/6 "2002-07-01T05:47:44Z")
From [http://www.fotw.ca/flags/ifrcrc.html](http://www.fotw.ca/flags/ifrcrc.html) : > [@](#): > > 1980 - The Islamic Republic of Iran decided to give up the red lion and sun and use the red crescent in its place. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/7 "2002-07-01T05:54:52Z")
From Duck Duck Goose’s cited site: > [@](#): > > The Red Cross was born in 1863 when five Geneva men…set up the International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, later to become the International Committee of the Red Cross. Its emblem was a red cross on a white background: the inverse of the Swiss flag. Which means, if you read between the lines, “No, it’s never going to change.” ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/8 "2002-07-01T08:04:01Z")
Thanks, waterj. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/9 "2002-07-01T22:36:37Z")
I don’t know about the Geneva officiating stuff, but the Red Cross was “invented” by Clara Barton, a woman who nursed the wounded at the battle fields of the Civil War. She eventually went overseas and nursed the wounded at THEIR various conflicts, and chose the inverse of the Swiss Flag as the emblem. By showing this emblem, ambulance and hospital personnel could pass unmolested through any battle line, and neither the vehicles nor the buildings used as hospitals were to be attacked. She is credited with founding the Red Cross in the United States, and she is also the one who took the cause overseas, to eventually become the International Red Cross. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/10 "2002-07-01T22:47:43Z")
Horsecrap. Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross in 1881, and modeled it on the International Red Cross, which, as I said, was founded in 1863. [http://www.redcross.org/museum/pre1900a.html](http://www.redcross.org/museum/pre1900a.html) ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/11 "2002-07-01T23:11:36Z")
To Nametag: Gotcha. It’s been a year or more (HAH!) since I read her biography. I do know she did nursing overseas as well as in the United States. And the Red Cross emblem had nothing to do with religious affiliation, it was modeled upon the Swiss flag. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Lost\_In\_Reality](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Lost\_In\_Reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lost_In_Reality)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/12 "2002-07-01T23:17:59Z")
I’m going to assume, though, that the Red Crescent is based on the Islamic Crescent Moon because there is no red and white flag with a Crescent Moon on it, that I know of. To DDG, I completely understand why they would be reluctant to add a new symbol just for one member but the minority still deserves a voice. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/13 "2002-07-02T02:47:16Z")
Yeah, but then what happens when the other 177 members hear about it? Next thing you know, _everybody_ will want their own symbol, and it’ll be the “Red Cross Red Crescent Red Star Red Arrow Red Heart Red Triangle Red Pentacle Red Circle Red Yin-Yang Red Southern Cross Red Maple Leaf”. And on and on… ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-cross/116760/14 "2002-07-02T03:48:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lost In Reality \* > **I’m going to assume, though, that the Red Crescent is based on the Islamic Crescent Moon because there is no red and white flag with a Crescent Moon on it, that I know of.** There’s the [Turkish flag](http://fotw.vexillum.com/flags/tr.html), although it has a star as well as a crescent.