Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict

The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict is an international treaty that requires its signatories to protect cultural property in war. It was signed at The Hague, Netherlands, on May 14, 1954, and entered into force August 7, 1956. As of 2013, it has been ratified by 126 states.

The convention defines a protective sign to facilitate the identification of protected cultural property during an armed conflict. A triple use of that sign is also possible to mark exceptionally important cultural property under special protection.

Following the Second World War, UNESCO adopted the Hague Convention (1954) which created rules to protect cultural goods during armed conflicts. This Convention was the first international treaty aimed at protecting cultural heritage in the context of war, and which highlighted the concept of common heritage and led to the creation of the International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS), whose Director General is currently Mr Julien Anfruns from the International Council of Museums (ICOM).