Organizational Flag of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The United States Army intended to use this small wool International Committee of the Red Cross flag for military use. Styled the "Convention of Geneva flag" a single flag is authorized for each medical unit, element, ambulance, vehicle or any other such unit that is not otherwise authorized a larger flag; such as those used by either Hospitals or General Hospitals and Convalescent Centers. See ZFC0243 for a similar, well-used Ambulance Flag.

In 1863 a five-member committee met in Switzerland to get nations to agree to protect first aid volunteers and the wounded on the battlefield. The following year Swiss government invited of all European countries, as well as the United States, Brazil, and Mexico, to attend an official diplomatic conference. Sixteen countries sent a total of twenty-six delegates to Geneva. On 22 August 1864, the conference adopted the first Geneva Convention "for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field."

One of its main objectives was to adopt a single distinctive symbol backed by the law to indicate respect for army medical services, volunteers with first aid societies and the victims of armed conflicts. The symbol needed to be simple, identifiable from a distance, known to everyone and identical for friend and foe. The emblem had to be the same for everyone and universally recognizable. Since the emblem was to reflect the neutrality of the armed forces' medical services and the protection conferred on them, the emblem adopted was formed by reversing the colors of the Swiss flag.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is the oldest and most honored of the societies that make up the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the "Red Cross" flag is the most widely recognized international humanitarian symbol.

This flag was never issued; but for other similar flags in the Zaricor Flag Collection see ZFC0164 for a Hospital Flag; ZFC0901 for an American Red Cross Flag and ZFC1105 a General Hospital & Convalescent Center Flag.

Provenance: Acquired by purchase in the 1970s from J&S Military surplus, Moss Landing, CA.

Sources:


US Army Regulations No. 840-10, Heraldic Activities, Flags, Guidons, Streamers, Tabards, and Automobile and Aircraft Plates, Washington, DC, Headquarters Department of the Army, 1998.

The History of the Emblems, History of the ICRC, International Committee of the Red Cross, 30 November 2011, from: http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/emblem-history.htm

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Wikipedia, 30 November 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement

Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection