Editing False flag (section)

{{Short description|Covert operation designed to deceive}}
{{Other uses|False Flag (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
[[File:Douglas A-26C Invader 435440 Tamiami 26.04.09R.jpg|thumb|300px|A U.S. [[Douglas A-26 Invader|Douglas A-26C Invader]] painted in false [[Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force|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.<ref name="grammarphobia">{{cite web |last1=O'Conner |first1=Patricia |last2=Kellerman |first2=Stewart |title=The True History of False Flags |date=11 May 2018 |publisher=Grammarphobia.com |url=https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2018/05/false-flag.html |access-date=9 June 2020}}</ref><ref name="cjr"/> The term was originally used to describe a [[ruse de guerre|ruse]] in [[naval warfare]] whereby a vessel flew the flag of a neutral or enemy country to hide its true identity.<ref name="grammarphobia"/><ref name="cjr"/><ref>{{cite news |title=False flags: What are they and when have they been used? |date=2022-02-18 |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60434579 |access-date=2022-05-20}}</ref> The tactic was initially used by [[piracy|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.<ref name="Politakis2018">{{cite book |last=Politakis |first=George P. |title=Modern Aspects of the Laws of Naval Warfare and Maritime Neutrality |date=2018 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-88577-8 |pages=281– |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xn17DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT281}}</ref><ref name="Kert2015">{{cite book |author=Faye Kert |title=Privateering: Patriots and Profits in the War of 1812 |date=30 September 2015 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-1-4214-1747-9 |pages=62– |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6RQ0CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA62}}</ref><ref name="HickeyClark2015">{{cite book |author1=Donald R. Hickey |author2=Connie D. Clark |title=The Routledge Handbook of the War of 1812 |date=8 October 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-70198-9 |pages=64– |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hjyvCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA64}}</ref>

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 [[casus belli|pretext]] for domestic repression or foreign military aggression<ref name="austinconspiracy">deHaven-Smith, Lance (2013). ''Conspiracy Theory in America''. Austin: [[University of Texas Press]]. p. 225</ref> (as well as to engender sympathy). 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".