Blue Shield International

The Blue Shield
	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.
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.org

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.^[1] Originally intended as the "cultural equivalent of the Red Cross",^[2]^[3] 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.

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.^[4]^[5]^[6]

^ "Blue Shield International: History".
^ Boylan, Patrick (1993). Review of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague Convention of 1954). [Online]: UNESCO. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ Boylan, Patrick (2001). The Concept of cultural protection in times of armed conflict: from the crusades to the new millennium. In: Neil Brodie and Kathryn Walker Tubb (eds), Illicit Antiquities. The theft of culture and the extinction of archaeology. One World Archaeology. pp. 43–108.
^ UNIFIL - Action plan to preserve heritage sites during conflict, 12 Apr 2019.
^ The ICRC and the Blue Shield signed a Memorandum of Understanding, 26 February 2020.
^ Friedrich Schipper: "Bildersturm: Die globalen Normen zum Schutz von Kulturgut greifen nicht" (German - The global norms for the protection of cultural property do not apply), In: Der Standard, 6 March 2015.

[1] "Blue Shield International: History".

[2] Boylan, Patrick (1993). Review of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague Convention of 1954). [Online]: UNESCO. Retrieved 12 January 2021.

[3] Boylan, Patrick (2001). The Concept of cultural protection in times of armed conflict: from the crusades to the new millennium. In: Neil Brodie and Kathryn Walker Tubb (eds), Illicit Antiquities. The theft of culture and the extinction of archaeology. One World Archaeology. pp. 43–108.

[4] UNIFIL - Action plan to preserve heritage sites during conflict, 12 Apr 2019.

[5] The ICRC and the Blue Shield signed a Memorandum of Understanding, 26 February 2020.

[6] Friedrich Schipper: "Bildersturm: Die globalen Normen zum Schutz von Kulturgut greifen nicht" (German - The global norms for the protection of cultural property do not apply), In: Der Standard, 6 March 2015.

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