Each year, 8 May is celebrated as International Red Cross, Red Crescent and Red Lion and Sun Day. In 1971, it was celebrated with great verve and the heads of international Red Cross institutions issued a message in which they explained the significance of the theme chosen:

Mr. Marcel A. Naville, President of the ICRC:

In the world we live in, the state of war is a permanent feature. One conflict ends, another breaks out. Civil wars, disturbances, internal tension can, sometimes in a few hours, crush thousands of people under the heel of oppression, captivity and occupation. What words, therefore, could better describe the mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross, whose specific field of action is war, than the theme chosen to celebrate 8 May this year: “Red Cross Working Round the Clock” ?