The Red Lion and Sun (Persian 1588; 17( 1585; 1608; 1582; 1608; 1585; 1588; 17( 1583; 1587; 1585; 1582; ) is the symbol used in Iran by a society equivalent to the Red Cross that acts in armed conflicts by providing health aid. This heraldic emblem is very old in Persia and has an astrological origin ("the Sun in the house of Leo"), but over the centuries it changed its meaning and ended up being associated with the Shah and royalty, who in 1949 managed to get the Geneva Convention to accept this symbol as well as the Turkish Red Crescent with the same status and privileges as the Red Cross; although in 1980 the revolutionary government also changed it to the Red Crescent, so that the Sun and the Lion would not evoke the previous regime in the population. See Red Crystal, Red Star of David.
