Section 77p. 77

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME II

The distinctive emblem (red on a white ground) shall be

as large as appropriate under the circumstances. For the

shapes of the cross, the crescent or the lion and sun*, the

High Contracting Parties may be guided by the models

shown in Figure 2.

* No State has used the emblem of the lion and sun since

1980.

Article 5 - Use

1. The distinctive emblem shall, whenever possible, be

displayed on a flat surface, on flags or in any other way

appropriate to the lay of the land, so that it is visible from

as many directions and from as far away as possible, and

in particular from the air.

2. At night or when visibility is reduced, the distinctive

emblem may be lighted or illuminated.

3. The distinctive emblem may be made of materials

which

make

it

recognizable

by

technical means of

detecting. The red part should be painted on top of black

primer paint in order to facilitate its identification, in

particular by infrared instruments.

4. Medical and religious personnel carrying out their

duties in the battle area shall, as far as possible, wear

headgear and clothing bearing the distinctive emblem.

CHAPTER III - DISTINCTIVE SIGNALS

Article 6 - Use

1. All distinctive signals specified in this Chapter may be

used by medical units or transports.

2. These signals, at the exclusive disposal of medical units

and transports, shall not be used for any other purpose,

the use of the light signal being reserved (see paragraph

3 below).

3. In the absence of a special agreement between the

Parties to the conflict reserving the use of flashing blue

lights for the identification of medical vehicles, ships and

craft, the use of such signals for other vehicles, ships and

craft is not prohibited.

4. Temporary medical aircraft which cannot, either for

lack of time or because of their characteristics, be marked

with the distinctive emblem, may use the distinctive

signals authorized in this Chapter.

Article 7 - Light signal

1. The light signal, consisting of a flashing blue light as

defined in the Airworthiness Technical Manual of the

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Doc. 9051,

is established for the use of medical aircraft to signal their

identity. No other aircraft shall use this signal. Medical

aircraft using the flashing blue light should exhibit such

lights as may be necessary to make the light signal visible

from as many directions as possible.

2. In accordance with the provisions of Chapter XIV, para.

4

of

the

International

Maritime

Organization

(IMO)

International Code of Signals, vessels protected by the

Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Protocol should

exhibit one or more flashing blue lights visible from any

direction.

3. Medical vehicles should exhibit one or more flashing

blue lights visible from as far away as possible. The High

Contracting Parties and, in particular, the Parties to the

conflict which use lights of other colours should give

notification of this.

4. The recommended blue colour is obtained when its

chromaticity is within the boundaries of the International

Commission on Illumination (ICI) chromaticity diagram

defined by the following equations:

green boundary y = 0.065 + 0,805x;

white boundary y = 0.400 - x;

purple boundary x = 0.133 + 0,600y.

The recommended flashing rate of the blue light is

between sixty and one hundred flashes per minute.

Article 8 - Radio signal

1. The radio signal shall consist of the urgency signal and

the distinctive signal as described in the International

Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations (RR

Articles 40 and N 40).

2. The radio message preceded by the urgency and

distinctive signals mentioned in paragraph 1 shall be

transmitted in English at appropriate intervals on a

frequency or frequencies specified for this purpose in the

Radio Regulations, and shall convey the following data

relating to the medical transports concerned:

(a) call sign or other recognized means of identification;

(b) position;

(c) number and type of vehicles;

(d) intended route;

(e) estimated time en route and of departure and arrival,

as appropriate;

(f) any other information, such as flight altitude, guarded

radio

frequencies,

languages

used

and

secondary

surveillance radar modes and codes.

3. In order to facilitate the communications referred to in

paragraphs 1 and 2, as well as the communications

referred to in Articles 22, 23 and 25 to 31 of the Protocol,

the High Contracting Parties, the Parties to a conflict, or

one of the Parties to a conflict, acting in agreement or

alone, may designate, in accordance with the Table of

Frequency Allocations in the Radio Regulations annexed

to the International Telecommunication Convention, and

publish selected national frequencies to be used by them

for

such

communications.

The

International

Telecommunication Union shall be notified of these

frequencies in accordance with procedures approved by

a World Administrative Radio Conference.

Article 9 - Electronic identification

1. The Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) system, as

specified in Annex 10 to the Chicago Convention on

International

Civil

Aviation

of

7

December

1944, as

amended from time to time, may be used to identify and

to follow the course of medical aircraft. The SSR mode

and code to be reserved for the exclusive use of medical

aircraft shall be established by the High Contracting

Parties, the Parties to a conflict, or one of the Parties to a

conflict, acting in agreement or alone, in accordance with

procedures to be recommended by the International Civil

Aviation Organization.

2.

Protected

medical

transports

may,

for

their

identification and location, use standard aeronautical

radar transponders and/or maritime search and rescue

radar transponders.

It should be possible for protected medical transports to

be identified by other vessels or aircraft equipped with

secondary

surveillance

radar

by

means

of

a

code

transmitted by a radar transponder, e.g. in mode 3/A,

fitted on the medical transports.

The

code

transmitted

by

the

medical

transport

transponder should be assigned to that transport by the

competent authorities and notified to all the Parties to

the conflict.

3. It should be possible for medical transports to be

identified by submarines by the appropriate underwater

acoustic signals transmitted by the medical transports.

The underwater acoustic signal shall consist of the call

sign (or any other recognized means of identification of

medical transport) of the ship preceded by the single

group

YYY

transmitted in morse on an appropriate

acoustic frequency, e.g. 5kHz.

Parties to a conflict wishing to use the underwater

acoustic

identification

signal

described

above

shall

inform the Parties concerned of the signal as soon as

© Compiled by RGL

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