The Red Cross

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, wrote a book on the history of the Great Boer War in which he tells of a small detachment of British troops who, overwhelmed by enemy forces, fell back under heavy fire.  Their wounded lay in a perilous position, facing certain death.  One of them, a corporal in the Ceylon Mounted Infantry, later told that they all realized they had to come immediately under the protection of a Red Cross flag if they wanted to survive.  All they had was a piece of white cloth, but no red paint,  so they used the blood from their own wounds to make a large cross on that white cloth.  The attackers repected that grim flag as it was held aloft, and the British wounded were brought to safety.

- quoted from Preacher's Sourcebook of Creative Sermon Illustrations (Thomas Nelson, 2007)