Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historic Monuments, signed in Washington on 15 April 1935.
This treaty, initiated by the painter and humanist Nicolas Roerich, gave rise to the symbol of the Banner of Peace — a red circle enclosing a triple sphere on a white ground — which the CIBP is committed to making known and respected. It was transferred in 1954 to UNESCO and inspired the Hague Convention of that same year.
Signed on 15 April 1935 in Washington, under the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Pact was drafted with the assistance of international experts, including the jurist Georges Chklaver of the University of Paris. It received the support of such figures as Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw and H. G. Wells. The Banner of Peace — three spheres arranged in a pyramid on a white ground, symbolizing Spirituality, Art and Science united within Culture — is its distinctive emblem, in the same way that the Red Cross protects hospitals.
The High Contracting Parties, animated by the desire to give conventional form to the terms of the resolution approved on 16 December 1933, by all the States represented at the Seventh International Conference of American States, held at Montevideo, "which recommends to the Governments of America not yet having done so, to sign the 'Roerich Pact,' initiated by the 'Roerich Museum' in the United States, which has for its object the universal adoption of a flag, the design of which already exists and is generally known, in order thereby to preserve, in time of danger, all immovable monuments, whether national or private property, which constitute the cultural heritage of peoples," have decided to conclude a treaty to that end, and, so that the heritage of culture may be respected and protected in time of war and in peace, have agreed upon the following articles:
The historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions shall be considered as neutral and as such shall be respected and protected by belligerents. The same respect and protection shall be due to the personnel of the institutions mentioned above. The same respect and protection shall be accorded to historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions in time of peace as well as in time of war.
The neutrality, protection and respect due to the monuments and institutions mentioned in the preceding article shall be recognized throughout the territory subject to the sovereignty of each signatory or acceding State, without any distinction as to the national allegiance of the said monuments and institutions. The governments undertake to adopt the necessary domestic legislative measures to ensure the respect and protection in question.
To identify the monuments and institutions mentioned in Article I, use may be made of a distinctive flag in accordance with the model annexed to this treaty (a red circle enclosing a triple sphere, the whole on a white ground).
The signatory governments and those which shall accede to this treaty shall communicate to the Pan American Union, at the time of signature or accession, or at any time thereafter, a list of the monuments and institutions for which they desire the protection stipulated by this treaty. The Pan American Union, in notifying the governments of signatures or accessions, shall also communicate to them the list of the monuments and institutions mentioned in this article, and shall communicate to the other governments any change in the said list.
The monuments and institutions mentioned in Article I shall cease to enjoy the privileges stipulated in this treaty when they are used for military purposes.
The States which shall not have signed this treaty on the date of its signature may sign it or accede to it at any time.
The instruments of accession, as well as those of ratification and denunciation of this treaty, shall be deposited with the Pan American Union, which shall communicate the act of deposit to the other signatory or acceding States.
This treaty may be denounced at any time by any signatory or acceding State, and the denunciation shall take effect three months after it has been notified to the other signatory or acceding States. In witness whereof, the undersigned plenipotentiaries, having deposited their full powers, which were found to be in good and due form, sign this agreement on behalf of their respective governments and affix their seals thereto, on the date appearing opposite their signatures.
| Country | Signatory |
|---|---|
| Argentina | Felipe A. Espil |
| Bolivia | Enrique Finot |
| Brazil | Oswaldo Aranha |
| Chile | M. Trucco |
| Colombia | M. Lopez Pumarejo |
| Costa Rica | Man. Gonzalez |
| Cuba | Guillermo Patterson |
| Dominican Republic | Raf. Brache |
| Ecuador | C. E. Alfaro |
| El Salvador | Hector David Castro |
| Guatemala | Adrian Recinos |
| Haiti | A. Blanchet |
| Honduras | M. Paz Baraona |
| Mexico | F. Castillo Najera |
| Nicaragua | Henri de Bayle |
| Panama | R. J. Alfaro |
| Paraguay | Enrique Bordenave |
| Peru | M. de Freyre y S. |
| United States of America | Henry A. Wallace |
| Uruguay | J. Richling |
The treaty was transferred in 1954 to UNESCO; India ratified it between 1947 and 1951. It appears, together with Hague Conventions III to XIX of 1907, in the volume "International Law Governing the Conduct of Hostilities" (ICRC, Geneva, 1996, 2nd ed., 201 pp.).
