This armband was used by personnel in the British Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War. The use of a red cross on a white background as a symbol of neutrality and protection in armed conflict was established in the first Geneva Convention in 1864. The convention regulates the rights and protection of wartime prisoners, civilians and military personnel. The background to the convention is Henry Dunant's founding of the international Red Cross movement in 1863. The Red Cross emblem has since that time been the distinctive mark of Red Cross personnel and the medical services of the armed forces.
The armband was acquired by the Nobel Prize Museum in 2023.
