Protective emblems, signs & signals

Emblems and signs may be used to identify and protect certain humanitarian or peaceful activities, persons, or locations. Persons or objects wearing or carrying certain listed signs benefit from specific international protection and must not be the target of any attack or act of violence.

The emblems

The red cross (or red crescent) and the Red Crystal on a white background protects all medical services, such as medical and religious personnel, medical units, and means of transportation;
Oblique red stripes on a white background designate medical and safety zones and localities;
A shield, consisting of a royal blue square and triangle, and two white triangles, designate cultural objects and property;
An equilateral blue triangle on an orange background protects civil defense personnel, installations, and material;
A group of three bright orange circles of equal size, placed along the same axis and with the distance between each circle being one radius, protects works and installations containing dangerous forces;
A white flag is the flag of truce and is reserved for parlementaires (persons authorized to negotiate directly with the adverse party);
The letters IC (for internment camp) and PW or PG (for prisoners of war or prisonniers de guerre ) designate internment camps for civilian internees and for prisoners of war.

Prohibitions

It is prohibited:

to feign intent to negotiate under a fag of truce or of surrender as it is prohibited to use unduly the whote flag;
to make improper use of any emblems, signs or signals provided by the Geneva Conventions and/or their additional protocols;
to misuse deliberately other internationally recognized protective emblems, signs or signals in an armed conflict, including the flag of truce and the pretoective emblem of cultural property
to make use of the distinctive emblem of the United Nations, except as authorized by that organization
in armed conflict to use the flags or military emblems, insignia, or uniforms of neutral or other States not party to the conflict
to make use of flags or military emblems, insignia, or uniforms of adverse parties, whether during attacks or in order to shield, favor, protect or impede military operations
to direct attacks against medical and religious personnel and objects displaying the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law

Penalties

Acts contrary to the appropriate use of the emblem of the Red Cross, Red Crescent, Red Crystal, Red Lion and Sun, or other protective signs recognized by the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols constitutes a grave breach of the laws of war. In other words, it is a war crime covered by the principle of universal jurisdiction and the statute of the International Criminal Court. As for the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems, States party to the Geneva Conventions have the obligation to adopt laws and sanctions to be enforced before national courts that prevent and punish the perfidious use of these emblems in times of peace or of war.