LONDON – A nurse in a Robin Hood stage show had to change her costume after the Red Cross warned the theater company the use of its emblem on the dress could violate the Geneva Conventions.
Glasgow's Pavilion Theater had a nurse character in the pantomime show wearing a costume with red crosses on her hat and tunic — but changed the crosses to green after the British Red Cross objected.
The humanitarian organization said Friday the symbol is a special sign of neutrality in armed conflicts and that its unauthorized use — even in an innocent or light-hearted way — undermines its mission.
"We have no desire to be the villains of the pantomime or to appear heavy handed, but we do have a very serious obligation to protect the Red Cross emblem," the group said in a statement.
In 2008, the International Red Cross said Colombia violated the Geneva Conventions by using its emblem during a covert military mission. In the same year, Johnson & Johnson and the American Red Cross resolved a lawsuit over the use of their shared red-and-white symbol.
