Red Cross

Red Cross, the badge of the Knights Hospitallers (q.v.), of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, and of the modern revival of the English "language" of that order as a society for ambulance service, and of similar foreign societies. The red cross has been internationally recognised as a symbol of neutrality at the Geneva Convention of 1864. The Order of the Red Cross was instituted in 1883. It is conferred upon ladies who have distinguished themselves in tending the sick and wounded, and is bestowed on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for War.