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Jean Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman, wrote the book "Un Souvenir del Solferino" ("A Memory of Solferino") in 1862, describing the sufferings of the wounded on the battlefield of Solferino, when the French and Sardinian armies fought the Austrians, in which more than 30,000 were killed or wounded. He urged the formation of voluntary aid societies for the relief of the wounded, and urged that this help be international and neutral.

The Societe Genevoise d'Utilite Publique of Switzerland took up the suggestion and an international conference was called with delegates from sixteen countries, which met in Geneva in 1864 "For the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick of Armies in the Field". A convention was signed by twelve of the sixteen countries attending, providing for the neutrality of the aid personnel of the armed forces, and the neutrality of the civilians who voluntarily assisted them, with an international emblem to mark personnel and supplies. To obtain the symbol the Swiss flag was reversed in color (a white cross on a red field) to become a Red Cross on a white field, in honor of Dunant.
 
Signatories of the Geneva Convention with its subsequent revisions and trestles include most civilized countries. There are National Red Cross Societies in more than 68 countries. The International Committee of the Red Cross, founded in 1863, is composed of 25 Swiss citizens who serve as neutral intermediaries in time of war. The League of Red Cross Societies was founded in 1919, and is composed of the various National Red Cross Societies. The International Red Cross Conference, begun in 1867, is the highest deliberative body and is composed of a representative of each National Red Cross, of the League of Red Cross Societies, and of all nations signatory to the Geneva Convention. It meets every four years.
 
Clara Barton (US 967) started the American Red Cross in 1881, and it received its first Federal Charter in 1900. Its charter was revised in 1947. Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C.
 
The design on the Vatican stamps recalls the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke X:30-37) which explains in the parable how we should love God and love our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

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