section_path: History of the emblems/Red Crystal
section_name: Red Crystal
paragraph_text: Red Crystal
  
  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was concerned with the possibility that the two previous symbols (Red Cross and Red Crescent) were conveying religious meanings which would not be compatible with, for example, a majority Hindu or Buddhist country from the Asia-Pacific region, where the majority did not associate with these symbols. Therefore, in 1992, the then-president Cornelio Sommaruga decided that a third, more neutral symbol was required.
  
  On 8 December 2005, in response to growing pressure to accommodate Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance, and blood bank service, as a full member of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, a new emblem (officially the Third Protocol Emblem, but more commonly known as the Red Crystal) was adopted by an amendment of the Geneva Conventions known as Protocol III, fulfilling Sommaruga's suggestion.
  
  The Crystal can be found on official buildings and occasionally in the field. This symbolises equality and has no political, religious, or geographical connotations, thus allowing any country not comfortable with the symbolism of the original two flags to join the movement.