Red Cross philately and the two world wars

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Postage stamps and Red Cross share a close relationship. As early as 1870s, postal administrations in France, Germany and Switzerland exempted postage on letters posted by Red Cross organisations or by prisoners of war. Since, it was important to identify such letters, some national red-cross societies printed stamps. These were identification stamps, rather than postage stamps. First such issue was from Portuguese red-cross society in 1889. Red Cross symbol first appeared on an actual postage stamp only in 1914. In this blog on Red Cross philately, we describe first use of such stamps during the world war period.

First World War and need for Red Cross Charity

First World War started on 28th July 1914. Various national societies required funds to care for the war wounded. Earliest red-cross symbol on a regular postage stamp was from France. This was an over print, and within another month, postage stamps from French agencies or colonies also had red-cross overprint stamps to raise funds. By September 1914, France printed new stamps with pre-printed Red Cross symbol. To begin with, postal agencies collected 5c surcharge, on every 10c stamp.

In the coming years, many more countries had stamps with either a Red Cross overprint, or as a pre-print. Between 1914 and 1918, a total of 47 countries issued about 230 such Red Cross or Red Crescent postage stamps. We can see some such stamps in the following two panels from Tunisia and North Borneo.

Till 1918, Red Cross postage stamps were from a “definitive series”. Definitive postage stamps are regular stamps, that are printed again and again, and are primarily for regular postal use. In contrast, some stamps are “commemorative.” These postage stamps are printed only once, as a remembrance for an event, person, landscape or a national treasure. France issued first Red Cross commemorative in 1918. Since then France has regularly produced Red Cross philately items.

Cinderella (Non-postal) Red Cross issues

In early 20th century, some organisations issued non-postal stamps to raise funds for health. We call such stamps that are not owned by the postal departments, as cinderella stamps. I have some such Red Cross cinderella stamps from the world war period in my collection.

Of particular interest is “Madras war fund” stamp, which shows a hospital-ship. This ship is “HS Madras” a regular ship converted in a floating hospital for the war wounded. Officer-in-charge of the ship Lt Col GG Giffard wrote a proud letter to the editor of Indian Medical Gazette, in 1915 about this hospital ship. Interestingly, in this letter the officer writes – “This hospital ship is for Indian Army, and for sepoys only…In case we are asked to carry British soldiers, we shall be able to do so, but they have to carry their own cooks, utensils and supplies..” We can find full text of this letter, and history of HS Madras here.

Red Cross has its hands full in the First World War

First World War from 1914-1918 was a deadliest period in human history. About 15-22 million humans died, and another 23 million were wounded. Half of all deaths were in military personnel. Red Cross had its hands full, not only dealing with the dead or wounded soldiers, but also with implementation of the Geneva conventions. According to this convention, prisoners of war (PoWs) were to be treated with humanity and dignity. There were more than 10 million PoWs who were detailed on either side. Red Cross personnel visited and monitored many PoW camps. They also established an elaborate communication system, through which PoWs could write letters to their family members. Its PoW agency was active till 1923, as it took this long for all prisoners to be released. These activities also earned Red Cross its first Nobel Peace Prize in 1917.

All the Red Cross activities require funds, and during the First World War philately alone earned more than 10 million francs. After the war, many countries continued fund-raising for the Red Cross. These included Finland, France, Belgium, and US. Belgian Red Cross series of 1939, funded its headquarter building in Brussels. Many countries had made it mandatory to affix a Red Cross charity stamp on all domestic letters, during and even after war was over.

Nurse with a red-cross was a popular depiction in early Red Cross philately issues. During the inter-war period she is shown caring for the sick or a child. However, stamps that are issued during the war, she is caring for the wounded soldiers.

The Second World War

The Second World War lasted from 1939 to 1945. During the second war, Red Cross was extensively engaged in civilian relief. Trench warfare of the first war was replaced by massive air raids, that also had an impact on the civilian population. More than 50 million died directly due to war, and another 25 million due to famine or disease. About 5 million PoWs died during captivity. Despite being more organised during the Second World War, Red Cross could not prevent persecution of prisoners or civilian population in either Germany or Soviet Union. Scale of Jew holocaust was known only after the war was over. While Geneva conventions were in place, there was no agency that could really implement these. League of Nations had become defunct, and relief agencies were often helpless. Regardless Red Cross continued its heroic efforts and was awarded its second Nobel peace prize in 1944.

Since inception of Red Cross, most countries in Europe, and the americas adopted cross as a symbol. While this cross was an adaptation from the Swiss flag, some countries considered it as a religious symbol. So Turkey and many countries in the Middle East Asia adopted red-crescent instead.

From War to peace

Tradition of raising funds for Red Cross through postage stamps, has continued in some countries. France has consistently issued red-cross charity stamps. Since 1950 such stamps are an annual feature

Finland has also issued Red Cross stamps on a regular basis. These stamps often depict non-health themes with a red-cross symbol.

Please also note changes in the printing technology. Many early stamps had a single-colour printing. A space was left to print the red-cross, and this was a second print taken on the same sheet. Since this process was manual, the position of the Red Cross and some times the color shades vary, even in the same stamp.

An explosion in Red Cross philately was yet to come. In 1963-64, Red Cross completed 100 years of its existence. In the next blog we will explore the centenary issues from 1964 and beyond.