Towards a Comprehensive Solution to the Question of the Emblem

Over the years and through successive conflicts, millions of victims of war and other disasters have seen the red cross and red crescent emblems as symbols of impartial assistance and as protection against the violence of warfare or the arbitrariness of the enemy. Few emblems are better known and generate greater respect.Yet, since their adoption, these symbols, which serve both as protective emblems for military and civilian medical services in wartime and as distinctive signs for National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have been a source of recurrent difficulties and the subject of almost continuous debate. Several years ago, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement initiated fresh consultations on the matter of the emblems with a view to finding a comprehensive solution to a dilemma that has remained unsolved for too long.The purpose of this article is to recall the historical developments concerning the emblem, analyse the legal situation as it now stands, and present the Movement's proposal that, if adopted by the States party to the Geneva Conventions, will provide a comprehensive solution to the question of the emblem.