Editing False flag (section)

==Use in warfare==
In land warfare, such operations are generally deemed acceptable under certain circumstances, such as to [[military deception|deceive enemies]], provided the deception is not [[perfidy|perfidious]] and that all such deceptions are discarded before opening fire upon the enemy. Similarly, in [[naval warfare]] such a deception is considered permissible, provided the false flag is lowered and the true flag raised before engaging in battle.<ref>"the use of a false flag has always been accepted as a legitimate ''[[ruse de guerre]]'' in naval warfare, the true battle flag being run up immediately before engaging" ({{citation |editor-last=Thomas |editor-first=Rosamund M. |year=1993 |title=Teaching Ethics: Government ethics |publisher=Centre for Business and Public |isbn=9781871891034 |page=80}}).</ref> [[Auxiliary cruiser]]s operated in such a fashion in both World Wars, as did [[Q-ship]]s, while merchant vessels were encouraged to use false flags for protection. Such masquerades promoted confusion not just of the enemy but of historical accounts. In 1914, the [[Battle of Trindade]] was fought between the British auxiliary cruiser [[RMS Carmania (1905)|RMS ''Carmania'']] and the German auxiliary cruiser [[SMS Cap Trafalgar|SMS ''Cap Trafalgar'']], which had been altered to look like ''Carmania''. (Contrary to some accounts, the ''Carmania'' had not been altered to resemble the ''Cap Trafalgar''.)

Another notable example was the [[World War II]] German commerce raider [[German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran|''Kormoran'']], which [[sinking of HMAS Sydney|surprised and sank]] the Australian light cruiser [[HMAS Sydney (1934)|HMAS ''Sydney'']] in 1941 while disguised as a Dutch merchant ship, causing the greatest loss of life on an Australian warship. While ''Kormoran'' was fatally damaged in the engagement and its crew captured, the outcome represented a considerable psychological victory for the Germans.<ref>Squires, Nick. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080318165859/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/17/wsydney117.xml HMAS Sydney found off Australia's west coast]", [[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Telegraph]], 17 March 2008.</ref>

The British used a ''[[Kriegsmarine]]'' [[ensign (flag)|ensign]] in the [[St Nazaire Raid]] and captured a German [[code]] book. The old destroyer [[HMS Campbeltown (I42)|''Campbeltown'']], which the British planned to sacrifice in the operation, was provided with cosmetic modifications that involved cutting the ship's funnels and [[chamfer]]ing the edges to resemble a German [[Type 23 torpedo boat]]. By this ruse the British got within two miles (3&nbsp;km) of the harbour before the defences responded, where the explosive-rigged ''Campbeltown'' and commandos successfully disabled or destroyed the key dock structures of the port.<ref>Guinness World Records (2009), p.155</ref><ref>Young, P (Ed) (1973) Atlas of the Second World War (London: The Military Book Society)</ref>

===Air warfare===
Between December 1922 and February 1923, a commission of jurists at [[the Hague]] drafted a set of rules concerning the Control of Wireless Telegraphy in Time of War and Air Warfare. They included:<ref>[https://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/The_Hague_Rules_of_Air_Warfare The Hague Rules of Air Warfare], December 1922 to February 1923, this convention was never adopted ([https://web.archive.org/web/20020601160139/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/interwar/hagair.htm backup site]).</ref>

{{Blockquote|{{unbulleted list|Art. 3. A military aircraft must carry an exterior mark indicating its nationality and its military character.|Art. 19. The use of false exterior marks is forbidden.}}}}

This draft was never adopted as a legally binding treaty, but the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] states in its introduction on the draft: "To a great extent, [the draft rules] correspond to the customary rules and general principles underlying treaties on the law of war on land and at sea",<ref>{{cite web |title=Rules concerning the Control of Wireless Telegraphy in Time of War and Air Warfare. Drafted by a Commission of Jurists at the Hague, December 1922 – February 1923: Introduction |publisher=[[ICRC]] |url=https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/hague-rules-1923 |access-date=11 February 2025}}</ref> and as such these two non-controversial articles were already part of customary law.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gómez |first=Javier Guisández |title=The Law of Air Warfare |date=20 June 1998 |journal=[[International Review of the Red Cross]] |volume=38 |issue=323 |pages=347–63 |df=dmy |doi=10.1017/S0020860400091075 |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jpcl.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425044944/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jpcl.htm |archive-date=25 April 2013|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Land warfare===
In land warfare, the use of a false flag is similar to that of naval warfare: the trial of [[Waffen-SS|Waffen SS]] officer [[Otto Skorzeny]]—who planned and commanded [[Operation Greif]]—by a U.S. [[military tribunal]] at the [[Dachau trials]] included a finding that Skorzeny was not guilty of a crime by ordering his men into action in American uniforms. He had relayed to his men the warning of German legal experts: if they fought in American uniforms, they would be breaking the [[laws of war]]; however, they probably were not doing so simply by wearing the American uniforms. During the trial, a number of arguments were advanced to substantiate this position and the German and U.S. military seem to have been in agreement.

In the transcript of the trial,<ref>Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals. United Nations War Crimes Commission. [http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/skorzeny.htm Vol&nbsp;IX, 1949: Trial of Otto Skorzeny and others]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002175149/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/skorzeny.htm |date=2 October 2008}}. General Military Government Court of the U.S. zone of Germany 18&nbsp;August to 9&nbsp;September 1947.</ref> it is mentioned that Paragraph 43 of the [[United States Army Field Manuals|Field Manual]] published by the [[U.S. Department of War|War Department]], [[United States Army]], on 1 October 1940, under the entry ''Rules of Land Warfare'' states: "National flags, insignias and uniforms as a ruse{{snd}}in practice it has been authorized to make use of these as a ruse. The foregoing rule (Article&nbsp;23 of the Annex of the [[Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)#Hague Convention of 1907|IV Hague Convention]]), does not prohibit such use, but does prohibit their improper use. It is certainly forbidden to make use of them during a combat. Before opening fire upon the enemy, they must be discarded."