The convention came about after the enormous destruction of cultural property that occurred during the two world wars in the 20th century and 133 countries have joined it.
- This is a job that all county administrative boards in the country will do, but Gotland will be the first with the award itself. The work is one of many parts of fulfilling the government's mission to develop the total defense of Gotland, says Kristin Löfstrand, cultural environmental officer at the county administrative board.
"The Blue Shield"The objects will be marked in the autumn with a 10 x 15 cm emblem called "The Blue Shield" and the text: "Cultural property protected in accordance with the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of armed conflict".
- The assignment to the county administrative board has been to make an extremely restrictive selection of the nationally most important objects in the county. For us at Gotland, this has resulted in a list of 56 objects spread throughout the island, says Kristin Löfstrand.
The purpose of the award is to enable parties to identify which property is covered by the Convention's protection. Both state and private properties are on the list.
But will the protection work? Hear the answers in the clip above.