why is red cross sign used by doctors and ambulances
Emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement In popular culture, the red cross symbol came to be a recognisable generic emblem for medicine, commonly associated with first aid, medical services, products, or professionals; it has been misused in toys, movies, and video games, outside its defined context. After objections from the Movement, derivatives and alternatives are used. Johnson & Johnson had registered the symbol for their medicinal products. The appropriation of the symbol has led to further confusion when first aid teams and ski patrols in the United States reverse the symbol–a white cross on a red background–thus suggesting an affiliation with Switzerland by simply re-applying the original idea of the red cross symbol, namely by reversing the red cross symbol's colors.[1][2][3][4]
Sign of the cross The Cross is a symbol representing Christâ€™s victory over sin and death.[3] The sign of the cross was originally made in some parts of the Christian world with the right-hand thumb across the forehead only.[4] In other parts of the early Christian world it was done with the whole hand or with two fingers.[5] Around the year 200 in Carthage (modern Tunisia, Africa), Tertullian wrote: "We Christians wear out our foreheads with the sign of the cross".[6] Vestiges of this early variant of the practice remain: in the Roman Rite of the Mass in the Catholic Church, the faithful make this gesture on the forehead, on the lips, and on the heart at the proclamation of the Gospel;[4] on Ash Wednesday a cross is traced in ashes on the forehead; holy oil (called chrism) is applied on the forehead for the sacrament of Confirmation (called the Holy Mystery of Chrismation in the Eastern Orthodox Church, as Orthodox call the Sacraments by the name "Holy Mystery"). By the 4th century, the sign of the cross involved other parts of the body beyond the forehead.[4]