1903-1904 – After visiting the ancient cities of Russia, Nicholas Roerich begins active struggle against destruction of architectural monuments and other art values. At the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society he made a report about the deplorable condition of historical monuments and asked to take urgent measures for their protection.
1914 – Nicholas Roerich addresses the supreme command of the Russian army and the governments of the USA and France with the idea of concluding an international agreement on protection of cultural values during the armed conflicts. He creates the poster “Enemy of the Human Race” in which he condemns the barbaric destruction of cultural monuments. He paints the picture “The Glow”, protesting against the First World War.
1915 – Nicholas Roerich reports to the Emperor Nikolaj II and the Grand Duke Nikolaj Nikolaevich with an appeal to take serious measures for national protection of cultural treasures.
1929 – Nicholas Roerich prepares a draft of a Pact for the Protection of Cultural Treasures in collaboration with the doctor of international law and political sciences of the Paris University George Shklyaver. Together with the Pact, Nicholas Roerich suggests a distinctive emblem for the protection objects – the Banner of Peace, which is a white cloth with a red circle and three red dots inscribed in it.
– A Standing Committee of thePact and the Banner of Peace is established in New York to promote the Pact.
– Nicholas Roerich is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
– The text of the draft with an accompanying appeal by Nicholas Roerich to the governments and peoples of all countries is published in the press and sent to governmental, scientific, artistic and educational institutions around the world.
1930 – The draft of the Pact is submitted to the Committee of Museums of the League of Nations, then submitted to the International Commission for Intellectual Cooperation.
– Committees for the Pact and the Banner of Peace are established in Paris and Bruges (Belgium).
1931 – The International Union of the Roerich Pact is established in Bruges under the leadership of Camille Tulpink, a member of the Belgian Commission for the Protection of Monuments.
September 13-15 – The First International Conference on the Roerich Pact is convened in Bruges with the participation of representatives of several European states. This conference develops a plan to promote the ideas of the Pact in educational institutions and contacts are established with the International Committee of the Conference on Arms Limitation.
1932, August 7-9 – The Second International Conference on the Roerich Pact convenes in Bruges. The conference was attended by 22 countries. The conference decided to establish a special institution in Bruges for the worldwide promotion of the ideas of the Roerich Pact. It resolved to appeal to all countries to recognise the Pact as an international instrument.
1933, November 15 – Visit of the organizing committee of the Third International Conference devoted to the Roerich Pact to the US president F.D. Roosevelt.
November 17-18 – The Third International Conference devoted to the Roerich Pact is held in Washington, USA. This conference was supported by 35 countries which recommended signing the Pact to all governments.
December – The Seventh Pan-American Union Conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, adopts a resolution recommending that American governments join the Roerich Pact.
1934, April 4 – The report of the Special Committee of the Pan-American Union Board on the Roerich Pact is approved.
August 11 – US President F.D. Roosevelt formally authorized US Secretary of Agriculture H.E. Wallace to sign the Roerich Pact on behalf of the United States.
September 2 – Establishment of the Pact and Banner of Peace Committee in Harbin, Manchuria.
– A Committee for the Promotion of the Pact is formed in Bulgaria.
1935, April 15 – At the White House, the United States and representatives of 21 American republics sign the Treaty for the Protection of Art and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments (Roerich Pact). The distinctive emblem proposed by Roerich for the identification of objects of protection – the Banner of Peace – is approved as part of the treaty itself.
July 2 – The Pact is ratified by the US Senate.
July 10 – The Pact is ratified by the US President.
October 25 – The Pact is promulgated by the President of the United States.
1937, October – The First Congress of the Baltic Roerich Societies decided to establish committees of the Roerich Pact in the Baltic States at each of the Roerich Societies.
– The First Congress of International Studies (Paris) unanimously passes a resolution to join the Roerich Pact.
1938, November 17 – The Banner of Peace is unfurled in Karachi, India.
1942 – Creation of the American-Russian Cultural Association (ARCA). “ARCA created a new stage of the Banner of Peace” (Elena Roerich).
1946, November 23 – The first meeting of the renewed New York Pact and Banner of Peace Committee took place.
April 18 – The Sixth All India Conference of Cultural Unity expressed its support for the Pact.
1948, August – The Government of India, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, decides to endorse the Roerich Pact.
1948-1949 – The Italian Association of the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace in Bologna launched an active campaign in support of the Pact. Committees of the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace were active in Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, France, England, Portugal, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and Cuba.
1949 – The 4th session of the UNESCO General Conference resolved to initiate work on international legal regulations for the protection of cultural property in hostilities.
1950 – The Roerich Pact Committee in New York transmits all documentation concerning the Pact to UNESCO. At the 5th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, the Director-General was instructed to prepare and circulate a draft convention. A UNESCO ad hoc commission drafted an international convention on the basis of the documents submitted.
1954, May 14 – The International Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict was adopted at the UN Conference in The Hague. The document is drawn up in four languages – English, French, Russian and Spanish. The legal continuity between the Hague Convention and the Roerich Pact is evident. The Hague Convention was signed by representatives of 37 States.
1968, April 1 – Representatives of 59 states including the Soviet Union signed the Hague Convention.
1970, November 14 – The Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property was adopted in Paris at the 16th session of the UN General Conference on Education, Science and Culture. The Convention is drawn up in four languages – English, French, Russian and Spanish.
1972, November 23 – The “Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage” was adopted in Paris at the 17th session of the UN General Conference on Education, Science and Culture. The document was drawn up in five languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, French and Russian.
1974 – Novosibirsk mountaineers unfurl the Peace Banner on Roerich Peak, near the Belukha Mountain.
1988, May 6 – The Banner of Peace is hoisted at the North Pole.
1990, February 11 – Cosmonauts A. Balandin and G. Strekalov hoist the Banner of Peace on board the MIR orbital station.
1995, June 26 – The Banner of Peace is presented to Mr. Gebhard von Moltke, deputy Secretary for Political Affairs, in Brussels at NATO Headquarters.
October 9-11 – The International Centre of the Roerichs holds the International Conference “Let’s Protect Culture” devoted to the 60th anniversary of the Roerich Pact.
1997 – The Banner of Peace is handed over to the Soyuz-TM crew within the framework of the “Banner of Peace” scientific and educational project. The Banner was flown aboard the MIR orbital station and remained in space for two years (August 5, 1997 – August 28, 1999) to accompany the work of international crews.
1998, October 9 – The Peace Banner was hoisted over the Nicholas Roerich Centre-Museum in Moscow.
1999, March 26 – In The Hague, the Second Protocol to The Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict was signed. The document was drawn up in six languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
2000, January 8 – The Banner of Peace is erected at the South Pole.
January 28 – The Banner of Peace is presented to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
2003, October 17 – The Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage is adopted at the 32nd session of the UN General Conference on Education, Science and Culture in Paris. The document is drawn up in six languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
2004, October 25 – Presentation of the Banner of Peace to the Speaker of the Indian Parliament, Sri Somnath Chatterjee on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Svyatoslav Roerich, co-founder of the Pact and youngest son of Nicholas Roerich.
2005, September – The International Centre of the Roerichs held a photo exhibition dedicated to the Roerich Pact at the UN Headquarters in New York.
2009, September 9-11 – In Mexico City, during the 62nd annual conference of the Department of Public Information Non-governmental Organisations “For Peace and Development – Disarm!”, the International Centre of the Roerichs hosted a photo exhibition on the Roerich Pact.
2010, January 21 – The Mexican Cultural Centre in Toluca opened an exhibition of photographs from the holdings of the International Centre of the Roerichs presenting the history of the Roerich Pact.
March 19 – The International Centre of the Roerichs’ exhibition “75 Years of the Roerich Pact” continued its route through Mexican states.
April 5-14 – A photo exhibition on the history of the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace was held in Madrid.
April 6 – The International Conference on Preservation of Cultural Heritage – “Archaeology in Times of Armed Conflict”, organized by the Austrian National Committee of the Blue Shield, was inaugurated at the Vienna International Centre “UN-City”. On April 7, the conference commemorated the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Roerich Pact.
April 15 – Celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Roerich Pact was held in Bulgaria.
June 16 – The Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Berlin held an exhibition entitled “The Roerich Pact. 75th Anniversary of Protection of Culture and Peace-making” was held on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Pact.
The exhibition was organised by the International Centre of the Roerichs under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Culture Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
September 28 – Commemorative photo exhibition “The Roerich Pact and Military. 75 Years of Protection of Culture and Peace-making” was opened in Vienna.
October 9-12 – The International Centre of the Roerichs hosted the International Scientific and Public Conference “75th Anniversary of the Roerich Pact”.
2011, March 28 – May 13 – Exhibition in San Remo dedicated to the Roerich Pact.
2012, April 2-6 – At UNESCO headquarters, Paris, the exhibition “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity”, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Second International Conference of the Roerich Pact and the Banner of Peace in Bruges, was conducted. The exhibition was organized by the Permanent Delegations of the Russian Federation and the Republic of India to UNESCO together with the International Centre of the Roerichs under the auspices of UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. At the same time, this event served as the launch of the international project implemented by the International Centre of the Roerichs to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Roerich Pact in 2015. The Banner of Peace and photo documents on the peacekeeping activities of Nicholas Roerich are an integral part of the travelling exhibitions held by the International Centre of the Roerichs.
2013, May 6 – The exhibition “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” at the National Congress of Argentina (Buenos Aires) started the Latin American stage of the international exhibition project of the International Centre of the Roerichs. Subsequently, the exhibition was shown at the Palace of the Legislative Assembly of Buenos Aires (May 13-17) and the Bernasconi Museum (May 20-30). By decree of Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the exhibition was given the status of being of “national interest”.
2013, June 12 – On “Russia Day”, a bank holiday of the Russian Federation, the International Centre of the Roerichs inaugurated the exhibition “Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” at the Palais des Nations of the United Nations Office in Geneva.
2013, June 3 – August 30 – The Latin American continuation of the exhibition project in Uruguay, where in 4 cities (Paysandú, Colonia, Carmelo and Montevideo) the exhibition “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” received large success. The exhibition was deemed “of cultural interest” by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay.
2013, September 20 – The consecration of Nicholas Roerich’s Banner of Peace was held at the Cathedral of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by its rector, Pastor Alejandro Russo. The event was initiated by the non-governmental organisation “A Thousand Millennia of Peace” with the participation of a delegation from the International Centre of the Roerichs.
2014, April 15 – The exhibition “Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” was opened at the Peace Palace, located in the country’s major administrative and international centre, The Hague.
2015, April 15 – An exhibition of the International Centre of the Roerichs opened at the UN headquarters in New York to mark the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty for the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions and Historical Monuments, which has gone down in history as the Roerich Pact. Welcoming remarks by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the importance of the Roerich Pact for today and for the future: “The Roerich Pact was signed exactly 80 years ago, but its ideas are still extremely relevant and not a day out of date.”
2015, April 14 – The exhibition “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” in the City Museum in Bonn, Germany. The exhibition is organized by the International Centre of the Roerichs (ICR) together with the German Roerich Society in cooperation with the City Museum of Bonn under the patronage of the National Commission for UNESCO in Germany.
2015, May 4 – The exhibition of the International Centre of the Roerichs “The Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” was opened at St. Clement Ohridski University in Sofia. It was co-organized by the International Committee for the Preservation of the Roerich Heritage (Russia), the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria, St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, East-West Indological Foundation, State Agency “Archives”, St. Cyril and Methodius National Library, Centre for Eastern Languages and Cultures of Sofia University and the Roerich National Society, with the assistance of the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria.
The exhibition is organized under the patronage of the Bulgarian National Commission for UNESCO and is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Roerich Pact and the 70th anniversary of UNESCO.
2016 – 2021 and up to now the exhibition project “Roerich Pact. History and Modernity” travels to cities around the world: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Chile, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine, the USA, Uzbekistan, Uruguay.