Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent unissued example of a U.S. Issue Medic "Red Cross" armband. It is made of two pieces of heavy white cotton fabric stitched closed for use with a safety pin to attach (pin not included). It has a deep red canvas cross stitched along border with red thread. White border stitches along entire length of the band and around the ends.

The back of the band still bears the original supplier number ink stamped on the back: M 527220. Condition of the armband is excellent, with just a bit of staining and dirt from decades of storage. We do not see any holes or evidence that this armband was ever used in service, so we believe it to be unissued.

Approximate dimensions:

4" Wide x 18" circumference

It was important to clearly identify Medical personnel in the field. One of the early documents, such as the "Amelioration of the Conditions of the Wounded in Armies in the Field" signed August 22, 1864, by a number of Governments, already instructed that Flag and Arm Badges worn by Medical personnel would bear a Red Cross on a White Field. Both symbols when used on Hospitals, Ambulances, Evacuation and Aid Centers, were to be proof of their neutral status! These signs provided for neutrality of military and civilian protected personnel (it gave them non-belligerent status) exclusively engaged in removal, transportation, and treatment of wounded and sick, or the administration of sanitary formations and establishments, and entitled them to respect and protection from their enemies. The "1929 Geneva Convention" which superseded the former agreement, was signed on July 27, 1929 by forty-seven countries (including the Axis countries, Germany, Italy, and Japan) and comprised numerous articles, among which Articles 9 and 21, recognizing that bearers of special identification cards and civilian protected personnel identified by armbands, and vehicles, and installations wearing Geneva Convention markings and markers, were all exclusively engaged in medical care activities, and consequently protected and respected by the Geneva Convention.