German Red Cross armband

White arm band with red cross surrounded by black writing 'Deutsches Rotes Kreuz'

The German Red Cross was acknowledged by the Geneva Convention in 1929 but has a longer history back to 1864 as the Red Cross Society.

After the First World War, it was prevented being involved in the military and focuses on social welfare and humanitarian aid. Under the Nazi Reich it was part of the regime and and its emblem incorporated the Nazi emblem of the swastika. From 1937, Erny-Robert Grawitz, a SS general was head of the German Red Cross.

Post Second World War, the German Red Cross was re-established in 1950.