USCBS presentation at a 2015 Congressional event
Presentation and pledge at the Smithsonian

Preserving the past – protecting the future

U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield

U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield

USCBS is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preventing the destruction, damage and theft of cultural property during armed conflict and natural disasters.

How does USCBS help prevent cultural property disasters?

Training

We coordinate with the U.S. military, U.S. government, and other cultural property organizations to protect cultural property worldwide during armed conflict.

Awareness

We strive to raise public awareness about the importance of cultural property as the shared right of all humankind.

Emergencies

We advise and assist, worldwide, in the protection of cultural property damaged or threatened by armed conflict or natural disasters and provide emergency planning.

Latest News & Alerts

  • October 29, 2026

    A Second Letter to Congress to Protect Section 106

    In the middle of August, more than 600 organizations joined a coalition to protect Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, vital regulations which require federal agencies to consider how federally funded, licensed, permitted, or [...]

  • October 24, 2026

    News from the BSI General Assembly

    Members of the USCBS Board of Directors are in Athens this week attending the Blue Shield International General Assembly, "Blue Shield 30! The Past, Present, and Future of Cultural Property Protection." We are thrilled to announce [...]

Learn more about the protection of cultural heritage throughout history

As early as the 2nd century BC, we know that authors were criticizing the wartime plundering of art. And, in more recent times, many laws and treaties have been written to protect and preserve cultural property. For instance, the Lieber Code of 1863, commissioned during the Civil War by President Abraham Lincoln, was the first legislation to explicitly call for the protection of cultural property during times of armed conflict. And, in 1954, The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in Times of Armed Conflict and its First Protocol were adopted after a meeting of representatives of the United Nations, under the auspices of UNESCO.

Affiliate Organizations