One symbol for all: Red Cross, Red Crescent or Star of David can fit inside

LONDON - A decades-old quandary over humanitarian symbols is likely to be resolved as early as today, with the Red Crystal approved for use alongside the Red Crescent and the Red Cross.

Opening a special conference of the 192 signatories of the Geneva Conventions yesterday, Micheline Calmy-Rey, the Swiss Foreign Minister, expressed confidence that delegates would recognize the diamond-shaped sign.

"The adoption of an additional emblem free of any national, political or religious connotation will put at our disposal an additional instrument for the protection of both civilian and military health services on the field of battle," she told the gathering in Geneva.

Ms. Calmy-Rey said the new emblem -- a thick red square tilted on its edge on a white background -- would protect humanitarian workers where the existing symbols "are not sufficiently recognized and respected."

In an age of religious strife, some Islamist militants regard the Red Cross as a Western "Crusader" symbol. The Red Cross building in Baghdad was bombed in October, 2003, killing at least 12 people.

Adoption of the Red Crystal is also designed to resolve long-running political disputes, particularly the row over Israel's use of the red shield or Star of David.

For more than five decades, Israel's Magen David Adom society has been kept out of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies because of its refusal to adopt either the Red Cross or Red Crescent.

In protest, the American Red Cross has halted funding to the international federation since 2000.

Under the proposed new rules, countries would have to use one of the three symbols to identify medical staff in war. The International Committee of the Red Cross could also use the Red Crystal if its staff believe it would be safer.

At the same time, the logos of national Red Cross societies could incorporate national symbols inside the Red Crystal.

So, for instance, Israeli medics in war would be identified by the Red Crystal, while Magen David Adom could place a Star of David inside the Red Crystal.

Countries with mixed populations, such as Eritrea or Kazakhstan, could use both the Red Cross and Red Crescent inside a Red Crystal.

The Red Cross was first adopted in 1863. It was the reverse of the Swiss flag, a white cross on a red background, a long-standing symbol of neutrality.

But arguments soon erupted as the Geneva conventions spread outside old Europe.

The Ottoman Empire unilaterally decided to use the Red Crescent during the Russo-Turkish war of 1876. Soon Persia secured the use of the red lion and sun, while Siam made an attempt to use a red flame.

Diplomats negotiating international humanitarian law became alarmed that the proliferation of symbols would create confusion and increase the risk of harm to medical workers.

© National Post 2005