Switzerland. Geneva. Two women walk on the sidewalk near the main public entrance of the Paquis police station. Two flags on building's wall, the swiss flag and the Geneva flag. A police station or station house is a building which serves police officers and contains offices, locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms. The flag of Switzerland consists of a red flag with a white cross (a bold, equilateral cross) in the centre. It is a sovereign-state flag. The flag of Geneva is divided vertically into two equal parts, yellow (hoist) and red (fly). In the hoist, a black double-eagle with a red crown, beak, tongue, legs and claws, cut in half by the palar line. In the fly, a yellow upright key with its ward toward the fly. The eagle symbolises loftiness, justice and protection. The key symbolises ecclesiastical rule, treasuries, and responsibility. The arms of Geneva are actually two shields impaled: half the eagle of the Holy Roman Empire, and one of the two keys of St. Peter (the "keys of heaven"). 8.05.12 © 2012 Didier Ruef