Does anyone know if the ICRC headquarters and their ambulances etc use the Red Cross symbols and call themselves the Red Cross or are they the Red Crescent. The two organisations are united since 1986 but since 1906 Muslim countries usually have Red Crescent organisations and use the Red Crescent logos on ambulances etc. The Red Cross is thought of in the West I gather as purely a medical symbol but it is not. Its origin is the Chrisitan Cross on the Swiss flag with colours reversed. Because of this it was seen as representing Christianity and was replaced in MUslim countries by the Red Crescent. Hence if the Red Cross symbol and name is used and the officials are mainly western this might be a factor in the decision to attack the ICRC headquarters by Islamic radicals assuming they did it.
Cheers, Ken Hanly
