Protective symbol

Protective symbols are symbols that identify persons and objects that are protected by international humanitarian law in armed conflicts . They are deliberately kept simple characters, which are widely recognizable without any additions, and can also be improvised if necessary. Their use as a symbol of protection is limited to armed conflict . They may only be used by certain organizations or groups of people for their staff, their buildings and vehicles as well as their other equipment, and for the identification of specified facilities. In most cases there is an obligation to use or affix the appropriate trademark, in some cases their use is optional.

Any use of protective symbols that is not for the intended purpose is a violation of international humanitarian law and is punishable in all contracting states of the relevant agreements. Abuse with the aim of killing, wounding or capturing the opponent is considered perfidy and constitutes a war crime .

List of important protection symbols

The protective symbols include, among other things

• the Red Cross and the equivalent symbols of the Red Crescent , the Red Lion with the Red Sun and the colloquially known as the "Red Crystal" symbol of the Third Additional Protocol to identify the persons and institutions protected under the four Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols (but not the Red Star of David , see also Magen David Adom )
• the blue triangle on an orange background as an international symbol of civil protection to identify the members and institutions of civil protection organizations
• the letters "PG" (as an abbreviation of the French term Prisonnier de guerre ) or "PW" (as an abbreviation of the English term Prisoner of War ) to identify a prisoner of war camp and the letters "IC" (as an abbreviation of the English term Internment camp ) for identification of a civil internment camp
• a red sloping bar on a white background to mark medical and safety zones
• the white parliamentary flag to identify negotiators and as a sign of surrender and renunciation of resistance
• the United Nations emblem and the letters "UN" for identification of members of peacekeeping missions of the United Nations
• the hallmark of the Roerich Pact for artistic and scientific institutions and historical monuments
• the mark for cultural property and the mark for cultural property under special protection to mark buildings or other immovable facilities with cultural significance in accordance with the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
• the label for "systems and facilities that contain dangerous forces", consisting of three orange circles arranged in a line, to mark dams , dykes , nuclear power plants and similar systems.

Red Cross	Red crescent	Red lion with red sun	Sign of the third additional protocol ("Red Crystal")
Civil protection sign	Signs for medical and safety zones	Parliamentary flag ("White Flag")	United Nations emblem
Marks of the Roerich Pact for monuments and cultural institutions	Identifier for cultural property	Marks for cultural property under special protection	Identifiers for dams , dykes and nuclear power plants

The symbol of the Roerich Pact has been replaced by the blue and white shield of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict .

The symbol of the red lion with the red sun was used by Iran from 1924 to 1980. Since then, the country has been using the Red Crescent instead, but has explicitly reserved the right to use the Red Lion with the red sun again. For this reason, this symbol continues to be a valid and equivalent to the other symbols of the Geneva Conventions.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Defined in Article 38 of the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949 for the Improvement of the Lot of the Wounded and Sick of the Armed Forces in the Field
2. ↑ Defined in Article 2 of the Additional Protocol of December 8, 2005 to the Geneva Agreement of August 12, 1949 on the adoption of an additional protective symbol
3. ↑ Defined in Article 66 of the Additional Protocol of June 8, 1977 to the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949 on the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflict
4. ↑ Defined in Article 23 of the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949 on the Treatment of Prisoners of War
5. ↑ Defined in Article 83 of the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949 on the Protection of Civilians in Time of War
6. ↑ Defined in Article 6 of the first appendix to the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949 on the protection of civilians in times of war
7. ↑ Defined in Article 32 of the Hague Convention on the Laws and Customs of War on Land of July 29, 1899
8. ↑ Defined in Article 3 of the Convention on the Safety of Personnel of the United Nations and Associated Personnel of December 9, 1994
9. ↑ Defined in Article 3 of the 1935 Washington Treaty on the Protection of Artistic, Scientific and Historical Monuments
10. ↑ ^{a b} Defined in Article 16 of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property of May 14, 1954
11. ↑ Defined in Article 56 of the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 on the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflict

See also

• Geneva Conventions
• Hague Land Warfare Regulations
• Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict