First Aid Kit - Appearance

Appearance

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) sets a standard for first aid kits of being green, with a white cross, in order to make them easily recognizable to anyone requiring first aid.

  • ISO First Aid Symbol

  • Alternate version of the first aid symbol

  • Symbol of the Red Cross

  • Star of Life

The ISO only endorse the use of the green background and white cross, and this has been adopted as standard across many countries and regions, including the entire EU. First aid kits are sometimes marked (by an individual or organisation) with a red cross on white background, but use of this symbol by anyone but the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) or associated agency is illegal under the terms of the First Geneva Convention, which designates the red cross as a protected symbol in all countries signatory to it. One of the few exceptions is in North America, where despite the passing of the First Geneva convention is 1864, and its ratification in the United States in 1881, Johnson & Johnson has used the red cross as a mark on its products since 1887 and registered the symbol as a U.S. trademark for medicinal and surgical plasters in 1905.

Some first aid kits may also feature the Star of Life, normally associated with emergency medical services, but which are also used to indicate that the service using it can offer an appropriate point of care. However, for very small medical institutions and domestic purposes, the white cross on a plain green background is preferred.

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