The "Red Crystal" is scheduled to make its debut today as an additional emblem that can be used to protect relief workers in combat where the Red Cross or Red Crescent meets hostility. But it is unlikely to be widely displayed in the near future.
The emblem was designed as part of complicated, long-running negotiations to include Israel in the Red Cross movement without giving the red shield used by Magen David Adom -- similar to the star on the Israeli flag -- the same status as the cross and crescent, which have been used by medics on the battlefield for more than a century.
Some countries feared that adding the red star of David to the list of protective emblems would open the door to proliferation of such symbols and undermine the recognition that any emblem had to protect humanitarian workers.
But Red Cross officials on Friday conceded it would take time before the crystal, a red square frame standing on one corner, will be known widely enough for medics to work under it on the battlefield without fear of being targeted by one side or the other.
"We have no indication at the moment that anybody is going to start using it" immediately, said Antonella Notari, chief spokeswoman of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
"It's legally now a protective emblem, but there's a lot of work to be done for it to be in reality and concretely a protective emblem because it needs to be known in the field and respected," she said.
The treaty authorizing the new symbol is entering into force six months after Switzerland and Norway became the first two countries to ratify the accord aimed at including Israel's Magen David Adom society in the Red Cross movement. So far, 84 countries have signed the treaty and nine have ratified it.
"We are pleased they created especially for us a new symbol that will be accepted the world over," said Noam Yifrach, chairman of the executive committee of Magen David Adom. The Israeli organization puts the red Star of David inside the crystal's frame.
Any national society in the international Red Cross movement will be able to use the crystal if it wants. Military medics for any country also will be able to display it instead of the cross or crescent. In combat, the crystal is supposed to stand alone, but for fundraising and identification purposes at home a society such as the Israeli organization could put its own emblem inside the frame.
Israel, which became a member of the Red Cross last June after a meeting of the movement cleared the way for the new symbol, will still be able to use the star on ambulances inside Israel.
The simple red cross on a white background -- the reversal of colors of the Swiss flag -- was adopted as the emblem of the movement when it was founded in 1863 by Swiss humanitarians trying to care for battlefield casualties who otherwise would have been left to suffer.
But the symbol unintentionally reminded Muslims of the Christian crusaders, and they began using a red crescent in the 19th century.
When Israel's society bid for membership in 1949, it objected to using both the cross and the crescent, but the Red Cross movement refused to admit the Israeli star.
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