Blue Shield International
The Blue Shield, formerly the International Committee of the Blue Shield, is an international organization founded in 1996 to protect the world's cultural heritage from threats such as armed conflict and natural disasters. Originally intended as the "cultural equivalent of the Red Cross", its name derives from the blue shield symbol designed by Jan Zachwatowicz, used to signify cultural sites protected by the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in Armed Conflict.
Logo of the Blue Shield | |
| Formation | The Blue Shield was formed in 2016 from the amalgamation of ICBS (1996) and ANCBS (2006). They adopted this logo in 2018. |
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| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Headquarters | Registered in the Netherlands, but the paid staff are located in Newcastle University, England |
Region served | Worldwide |
| Fields | Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict Cultural property |
Founding President | Karl von Habsburg |
President | Peter G. Stone |
| Website | theblueshield |
The Blue Shield's mission statement is in their statutes. It is a network of committees of dedicated individuals across the world that is “committed to the protection of the world's cultural property, and is concerned with the protection of cultural and natural heritage, tangible and intangible, in the event of armed conflict, natural- or human-made disaster.”
Blue Shield is a close partner organization with the UN, United Nations peacekeeping and UNESCO and in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross.