First aid sign (white cross on green)
A white cross on a green square is the safety sign for first aid. It marks where first aid equipment or a first aid post is, and is sign E003 in ISO 7010, the international standard for safety signs.
Easily confused with
- Green cross (pharmacy sign)A green cross outside a shop marks a pharmacy. In France it is a registered trade mark of the Ordre national des pharmaciens, the pharmacists’ professional order, and only pharmacists on the order’s register may use it.
- Red Cross emblemThe red cross is a protective emblem, not a first aid sign.
How to read it
ISO 7010 puts it in category E, the safe condition signs, which indicate an evacuation route, the location of safety equipment or a safety facility, or a safety action; ISO 3864-1 gives that category a square shape and the colour green. The UK’s Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 describe the same family as rectangular or square, a white pictogram on green, with green taking up at least half of the sign, and list among them the first-aid post, the stretcher, the safety shower, the eyewash and the emergency telephone for first aid or escape.
Also searched as: first aid sign, first aid symbol, green first aid sign, iso 7010 e003, white cross on green.
These pages explain what medical and emergency emblems mark and who may use them. They are not medical advice.
Not the red cross
The British Red Cross says the red cross emblem is not a first aid or medical sign, and that its most common misuse is on packaging, products and advertisements to do with health care, first aid and medical supplies. The red cross is red on white and protected by the Geneva Conventions; the first aid sign is white on green and is a safety sign.
Signs beside it in ISO 7010
The same category holds the other signs that point to help: E004 emergency telephone, E009 doctor, E010 automated external heart defibrillator and E011 eyewash station.
Look-alike: the pharmacy cross
The green cross outside a pharmacy is a green cross on its own, with no square around it.
Read next
- Next in Medical and emergency emblemsAED signA white heart with a lightning flash through it, on a green square, marks where an automated external defibrillator (AED) is. It is the universal AED sign approved by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) in 2008, and sign E010 in ISO 7010.
- The same shape in African flagsFlag of BurundiA white diagonal cross divides the flag into red triangles at top and bottom and green ones at the sides, with a white disc in the centre holding three red six-pointed stars. The Presidency of Burundi says the red recalls the sacrifices made to defend the nation and win independence, the green hope and prosperity, the white peace and unity, and that the three stars traditionally stand for the national motto, “Unity, Work, Progress”.
More medical and emergency emblems
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with crosses or squares and rectangles.
Sources
- ISO 7010:2011, Graphical symbols — Safety colours and safety signs — Registered safety signs (preview), ISO 7010:2011, International Organization for Standardization, preview via iTeh Standards, 4.2, Table 1; 4.3, Table 2
- ISO 3864-1:2011, Graphical symbols — Safety colours and safety signs — Part 1: Design principles for safety signs and safety markings (preview), ISO 3864-1:2011, International Organization for Standardization, preview via iTeh Standards, 3.8, Table 1
- The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, Schedule 1, SI 1996/341, legislation.gov.uk (UK Government), Part II, 3.4
- The emblem, Protecting people in armed conflict, British Red Cross, Page text
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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