The Red Lion and Sun Society ( ) of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

was established in 1922 and admitted to the

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

in 1923. However, some report the symbol was introduced at

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

in 1864IRCS website, in Persian
as a countermeasure to the Red Crescent and the Red Cross used by two of Iran's rivals: the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, respectively. In 1980, because of the association of the emblem (Iran's historic Lion and Sun) with the recently deposed

Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty () is an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian royal dynasty that was the Pahlavi Iran, last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was abolished by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah, Reza S ...

, the newly proclaimed

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

replaced the Red Lion and Sun with the

Iranian Red Crescent Society The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), officially the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran () is a non-governmental humanitarian organization in Iran. Founded as the Red Lion and Sun Society in 1922, it became affiliated with t ...

, adopting the symbol used by most of the other Muslim-majority countries. Though the Red Lion and Sun has now fallen into disuse, Iran has, in the past, reserved the right to take it up again at any time; the

Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

continue to recognize it as an official emblem, and that status was confirmed by

Protocol III Protocol III is a 2005 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem. Under the protocol, the protective sign of the Red Crystal may be displayed by medical and religious person ...

in 2005, even as it added the neutral

Red Crystal Under the Geneva Conventions, the emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are to be worn by all medical and humanitarian personnel and also displayed on their vehicles and buildings while they are in an active warzone, ...

References

External links

*
Red Cross and Red Crescent Club
Insignia International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Medical and health organisations based in Iran 1922 establishments in Iran Organizations established in 1922 Emergency management in Iran {{iran-stub

See also

References

External links