Background: Knowingly or unknowingly the Red Cross emblem is being misused among health care professionals. In the present study, attempt has been made to find out misuse of the emblem amongst health care professionals like by Pharmaceutical shops, Doctor’s clinics/ Hospitals, Medical laboratories, Doctor’s vehicles and Ambulances. Material & Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study (single blind) was conducted on randomly selected pharmaceutical shops, doctor’s clinics/hospitals, medical laboratories, doctor’s vehicles and ambulances in and around Puducherry from Jan-Feb 2011. All the data were collected randomly by using a self designed questionnaire on use of Red Cross emblem by above mentioned health care professionals. On each category 100 samples were selected. Results: Out of 100 samples in each category, it has been found that misuse of Red Cross emblem in Pharmaceutical shops was 12%, Doctor’s clinics/Hospitals was 37%, Medical laboratories was 48% , Doctor’s vehicle was 21% and in Ambulances it was 66%. Conclusion: In spite of existing law against the misuse of Red Cross emblem, its inadvertent use is rampant. It still needs awareness programme among health care professionals from time to time. It is recommended that implementation of existing law should be strictly followed.

Key words: Red Cross emblem, Pharmaceutical shops, Hospitals, Medical laboratories, Ambulances.