False flag

For other uses, see False Flag (disambiguation).

A U.S. Douglas A-26C Invader painted in false Cuban Air Force livery depicting those used in the Bay of Pigs Invasion undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 in April 1961.

A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misrepresentation of someone's allegiance.[1][2] The term was originally used to describe a ruse in naval warfare whereby a vessel flew the flag of a neutral or enemy country in order to hide its true identity.[1][2][3] The tactic was initially used by pirates and privateers to deceive other ships into allowing them to move closer before attacking them. It later was deemed an acceptable practice during naval warfare according to international maritime laws, provided the attacking vessel displayed its true flag before commencing an attack.[4][5][6]

The term today extends to include countries that organize attacks on themselves and make the attacks appear to be by enemy nations or terrorists, thus giving the nation that was supposedly attacked a pretext for domestic repression or foreign military aggression.[7] Similarly deceptive activities carried out during peacetime by individuals or nongovernmental organizations have been called false flag operations, but the more common legal term is a "frameup", "stitch up", or "setup".

  1. ^ a b O'Conner, Patricia; Kellerman, Stewart (11 May 2018). "The True History of False Flags". Grammarphobia.com. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference cjr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "False flags: What are they and when have they been used?". BBC News. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  4. ^ Politakis, George P. (2018). Modern Aspects of the Laws of Naval Warfare and Maritime Neutrality. Taylor & Francis. pp. 281–. ISBN 978-1-136-88577-8.
  5. ^ Faye Kert (30 September 2015). Privateering: Patriots and Profits in the War of 1812. JHU Press. pp. 62–. ISBN 978-1-4214-1747-9.
  6. ^ Donald R. Hickey; Connie D. Clark (8 October 2015). The Routledge Handbook of the War of 1812. Routledge. pp. 64–. ISBN 978-1-317-70198-9.
  7. ^ deHaven-Smith, Lance (2013). Conspiracy Theory in America. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 225