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International Civil Defence Organization

image by Zachary Harden22 July 2024

International Civil Defence Organization

See also:

International Civil Defence Organization

without text; image by Eugene Ipavec, 13 July 2006

The flag of the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO) was sighted as a table flag used at the 38th ICDO Executive Council meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland held from 30th June to 1st July 2005[1]. The emblem of the ICDO as used on the flag, features an orange globe with white longitude and latitude lines throughout on which is placed a blue equilateral triangle. The blue triangle on an orange field is the distinctive sign of Civil Defence as spelt out in the 1977 Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Convention[2]. The globe and triangle is completed with green laurels[3]. The ICDO emblem is placed on a white field when used as a flag. Also perhaps of interest in relation to the emblem of civil defence, the ICDO and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) jointly organized a meeting of experts on the implementation of international humanitarian law relating to civil defence from 30 June to 2 July 1997.

In an article summarising the various discussions that went on in the meeting[4], one of the issues raised was that of regulating the use of the civil defence emblem along the lines of the Red Cross-Red Crescent emblem where it seems to have been agreed that, "No additions should be made to the [civil defence] emblem, referred to in Protocol I as 'the international distinctive sign'. Governments that had made additions should be asked not to do so and to amend their legislation."

ICDO's emblem was also given mention where, "[i]t was noted in passing that the logo of the ICDO was different from the international emblem."

Notes & references:-
1. International Civil Defence Journal, No.2 October 2005, Volume XV. Available online at http://www.icdo.org/publications.html)
2. See FOTW websites
3. ICDO emblem can be seen at http://www.icdo.org/
4. Stéphane Jeannet, "Civil Defence 1977-1997: From Law to Practice", International Review of the Red Cross No.325, 31-12-1998, pp 715-723. See article
online at http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList74/5A6114ED72F9B728C1256B66005C6DAC
Herman Felani, 20 December 2005

The flag is shown in a photo at the ICDO site, http://www.icdo.org/, but with a difference - two lines of blue writing are beneath the logo. I can't make them out. Based on the context of the photo, this might be a headquarters flag.
Eugene Ipavec, 13 July 2006

The organization claims to have been established on the 28th of May 1931 with the foundation of the “Association international des Lieux de enève” or "Geneva Zones" in Paris, by retired Surgeon-General Georges Saint-Paul. In 1935, the French Chamber of Deputies unanimously adopted a resolution inviting the League of Nations “to study the means of establishing in every country, through agreements ratified by the League of Nations, places, localities or zones which would be set apart and free from any military activity or presence in case of armed conflict…”. It was a revolutionary idea. Until that time, no one had thought about the collateral damage caused to civilians in armed conflicts. Focusing on the protection of the civilian population was an avant-garde idea. Later on, on June 24, 1937, the Association des Lieux de Genève moved to Geneva and was renamed “Geneva Zones - The International Association for the Protection of the Civilian Populations and Historic Buildings in Wartime”. In 1958 it transitioned into a Non-Governmental Organization. In 1966, in Monaco, following the 2nd International Symposium on Radiological Protection, the representatives of the ICDO Member States, meeting in a Constituent Assembly, adopted the text of the present Constitution which gives it the status of an Intergovernmental Organization under the same name, thus changing its status from a Non-Governmental Organization to an intergovernmental organization whose objective is to contribute to the development by States of structures ensuring the protection and assistance of the population and the safeguarding of property and the environment against natural or man-made disasters. In 1998 it adopted the distinctive international sign of Civil Defence as stated in the Protocol Additional I to the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949. Its current flag was adopted in 2014 and it's the current logo in the middle, slightly on top and below the name of the organization in several languages. Currently there are 60 Member States plus an additional 22 Member organizations affiliated.Esteban Rivera, 9 May 2024

Specifications

There were some specifications adopted in 2016; they are as follows as per Resolution VII of the 22nd ICDO General Assembly (Kyrgyzstan, 12 May 2016):

4. Design of the ICDO flags (3.1 and 3.2): 4.1. Tip; 4.2. Flagpole; 4.3. White fabric with a fringe; 4.4. The official ICDO emblem in the centre (a blue triangle on an orange globe framed by olive branches); 4.5. The name of the organisation in six languages: English, French, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Chinese. 5. Characteristics of the ceremonial ICDO flag: Dimensions: 100 x 150 cm PANTONE Colors: PANTONE Orange 021 C PANTONE Blue 3005 C PANTONE Green 363 C Text in Black

Zachary Harden, 22 July 2024