No other aid organization is as well-known as the Red Cross. It's even been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize more than once. The controversy is in the name - allegedly, a symbol of Christianity.

"Brain matter splatters from bursting heads, limbs are broken and crushed, bodies become formless masses. The earth is literally drenched with blood. And the plains are strewn with the unrecognizable remains of human beings," Swiss businessman Henry Dunant described the battle of Solferino in northern Italy that he witnessed on June 24, 1859.

It was one of the bloodiest clashes in the 19th century, and left thousands of Austrian and French soldiers dead, and tens-of-thousands wounded. Dunant was so shocked that he set up a military hospital in a near-by church, mobilizing the local population to help him care for the wounded.

A role model

Four years later, with the support of friends and politicians alike, Dunant founded the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Within months, he managed to get 12 states to sign the 1st Geneva Convention for the protection of wounded soldiers. In 1901, he was awarded the very first Nobel Peace Prize. His birthday, May 8, is commemorated as "International Red Cross Day."

A mobile Red Cross hospital

Henry Dunant proposed a red cross on a white background as a uniform symbol and protective sign. It was not meant to be a symbol of Christianity, Frank Mohrhauer of the Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies (IFRC) told DW: rather he was thinking of "the reverse colors of the Swiss national flag. In those days, people didn't take into account that symbols always trigger very strong emotions." Thus, the cross has been a cause for conflict from time to time throughout the organization's 149-year history.

Dispute over emblems

In the 1876-1878 war against Russia, the Ottoman Empire used a Red Crescent symbol, arguing that a red cross would offend the troops' religious feelings. The ICRC didn't object and both sides recognized the other's safety symbol.

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The power of a sign