Swiss flag or Red Cross emblem: why the confusion?

Abstract

As a dual Swiss-US citizen, I have been astonished for many years about the sheer quantity of Swiss National flags decorating the United States. Indeed, I encounter the Swiss flag regularly in football stadiums, ballparks, and concert arenas, owing to the unequivocal earmarking of first aid stations and first aid responders at popular venues (Figure 1). The root cause is likely attributed to an unintentional mix-up of the Swiss flag with the Red Cross emblem. This misconception appears to be increasingly prevalent throughout the United States. In general, I would deem such a trivial oversight as unworthy of a formal correction. However, I was recently stunned to notice that the new Emergency Room of our own University Hospital in Colorado [1] is also “misbranded” with the Swiss cross (Figure 2). This most recent anecdotal episode set the incentive for the drafting of this editorial. Clearly, the purpose of this article is not meant to be condescending or indoctrinating, but rather aimed at shedding some light on the interesting historic background on the origin of the Swiss flag and Red Cross, and to potentially clarify a widespread misperception. Figure 1 Erroneous “misbranding” of medical services with the Swiss national symbol. Figure 2 Entrance to the new emergency room at University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, CO, mislabeled with the flag of Switzerland.