NEWS > HEALTH > RED CROSS CONSIDERS SYMBOL CHANGE UNDER PRESSURE FROM CRUSADE SURVIVORS

RED CROSS CONSIDERS SYMBOL CHANGE UNDER PRESSURE FROM CRUSADE SURVIVORS

June 13 2009

Geneva, Switzerland – When the Red Cross movement was first founded in 1863 it marked the first time that the world had ever seen an international agreement for the protection of medical aid workers in the battlefield. The earliest concept of the international came from Swiss businessman Henry Dunant after observing the horror
of 40,000 dead and wounded soldiers during the Battle of Solferino four years earlier. From the beginning, the symbol of the movement had been an inverted version of the Swiss flag, in part a tribute to the founder of the movement.

By 1919 the movement had expanded rapidly and adopted a crescent for use in Muslim countries but the vague religious overtones has long unsettled critics of the movement. Now a new proposal to change the two symbols into a crystal has brought that controversy to the forefront once again, though for slightly different reasons. Many have once again become unsettled with the connection of the cross to the Crusades, the series of military campaigns that concluded over 700 years ago, and the modern day descendents of the survivors and victims of those actions.

“The truth of the matter is that it has been difficult in some places for us to ensure that these connotations of a religious war or a religious crusade don't undermine the
work that the Red Cross or Red Crescent is able to do,” said British Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant. “In these circumstances, the Red Crystal would make our workers and the medical services of the armed forces safer. The British Red Cross will continue to use the Red Cross emblem, which, after more than a century, has served us well.”

The addition of the crescent to the movement was initially added out of respect for Muslim countries as well as a way to distance the perception of Crusade bias in the modern world. Thousands were killed during the nine crusades which generally involved European Christians battling Middle Eastern Muslims. There was no association equivalent to the Red Cross/Crescent during those times.

“In this very touchy world we have to be very cautious respect the rights and religions of all people. True having those two versions of the flag represent nearly half of the
world’s population, they don’t cover everything. What they completely ignore of
course is the horror of the survivors of the Crusades who by all rights have been suffering for centuries and deserve some kind of consideration,” said Scrape TV International Conflict analyst Mario Martinez. “The last Crusade between Christians and Muslims in 1272 but the suffering goes back even further than that. The First crusade ended in 1099 so the survivors of that conflict have been suffering for 910 years, far longer than other groups such as American slaves. We need to be respectful of that suffering but also not stir up emotions that could cause distress for those people and their descendents. The last thing we would want to do is offend people who have been dead for hundreds of years.”

The proposed crystal design, which has been a part of international law since 2006, has already drawn criticism due to its association with the 1982 Jim Henson film ‘The Dark Crystal’.

“Aside from how uncomfortable the Henson family would be in constantly seeing this crystal design, the last thing we need to associate this organization with is battle between good and evil the likes of which consumed the characters in that movie. The conflict between Islam and Christianity has at time been dire, but it is nothing compared to a 1000 years of darkness as shown in Henson’s film. That is the last thing we need,” continued Martinez. “It may be that there is no symbol that will fully satisfy the demands of every single person on the planet and so the easiest thing may be to just live with what we’ve got. Unfortunately the Crusade survivors won’t be satisfied but that’s a little more acceptable than angering the Skesis and plunging humanity into darkness for 1000 years.”

The Henson family had no comment on the proposed change. It’s not expected that a change to the design will dramatically affect doctors ability to save lives.   

Lauren Hebert, Health Correspondent

NEWS > HEALTH > RED CROSS CONSIDERS SYMBOL CHANGE UNDER PRESSURE FROM CRUSADE SURVIVORS