Summary:
The Federal Law on the Recognition of the Austrian Red Cross and the Protection of the Red Cross Emblem (Red Cross Law - RKG) was adopted on 6 December 2007 and entered into force on 1 February 2008.
The law replaces the Red Cross Protection Act of 1962. Its aims are to define the legal status of the Austrian Red Cross and to regulate the use and the protection of the distinctive emblems as defined in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their three Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005. The law protects the emblems of the red cross, red crescent, red lion and sun and red crystal and their names in all languages, the arms of the Swiss Confederation, as well as other emblems, signs and signals defined in Article 38 and Annex I of Additional Protocol I. Under the new law, the registration as a trademark of the figurative designs and names of the emblems are subject to authorization from the Austrian Red Cross, and any misuse of the emblems is subject to administrative fines without prejudice to other sanctions of a penal or disciplinary character.