false-flag operation

[victor steinbok]

Indeed. In GNA, I only found "false-flag operation" in 1984 (Modesto
Bee--article on spy defections). "False flag" obviously has long
history, but not necessarily under that name. To get an indication,
consider the earliest GB citation from 1806.

http://goo.gl/dWacB
The Maritime Law of Europe. By Domenico Alberto Azuni. Volume 2. 1806
ARTICLE IV.
Of the Search of Neutral Vessels on the High Sea.
> 3. If the necessity of a just defence render it lawful for belligerents to destroy one another, they may, for a stronger reason, be allowed to deceive each other, provided that deception and fraud, justly abhorred by civilised nations in time of peace, but called stratagem in time of war, have no other object than a necessary self defence, and to spare the effusion of human blood.(188) From this principle is derived _the_ancient_custom_ _that_has_become_prevalent_among_nations_, _of_navigating_under_some_flag_ _the_best_adapted_to_conceal_ _the_nationality_of_a_vessel_, whether a ship of war or merchant-man, with a view either to deceive or surprise the vessels of enemies, and to hail them for the purpose of capturing them with more facility.(189) This practice, which is really an abuse, excites distrust. The fear of meeting with a pirate, and being the dupe of deceitful appearances, is the reason why no credit is given to the flag of a vessel, though a ship of war.

Note, in particular, that the expression "false flag" does not appear
anywhere in the text. However, as was the editorial practice of the
day, the subject matter of the page appears in the header--or, rather,
the subheader (the header containing the title of the book, chapter
number and page number). The subheader for page 203--and /only/ for
page 203--reads:

> Custom of carrying a false flag.

To make things even more interesting, Azuni's volume was initially
published in French and the 1806 edition was an English translation.
So it is quite likely that the subheader (banner) did not appear in
the French original and no expression concerning "false flag" would be
found in it. There are several GB entries on French editions, going
back to 1795, plus French, Italian, Spanish and German editions from
1803-5, but only the 1805 French edition has the text attached. The
rest are all "No preview".

Checking the French edition, we find that it contains a similar header
(title and page number), but no content banner.

Here's the entire text:

> §. 3. Si la nécessité d'une juste défense permet aux belligérans de s'entre-détruire, à plus forte raison leur sera - t - il permis de chercher à se tromper , pourvu que la ruse et la fraude, justement abhorrées en temps de paix des nations civilisées, et appelées /stratagème/ en temps de guerre , n'aient pour but que le besoin de se défendre , en épargnant le sang humain (1). C'est de ce principe que dérive l'ancien usage , devenu depuis la pratique universelle des nations, de naviguer sous le pavillon le plus propre à cacher la nationalité d'un vaisseau soit de guerre ou marchand , dans la vue de tromper et de surprendre les navires ennemis , et de les accoster pour s'en saisir plus aisément (2). Cette pratique, qu'on peut appeler un abus véritable, fit naître la méfiance. La crainte de rencontrer un pirate, et d'être la dupe d'une perfide apparence , fit qu'on ne voulût plus ajouler foi au pavillon d'un vaisseau , quoique armé en guerre.

Not helpful, I suppose.

This is certainly the earliest appearance of the phrase in GB (with
one other 1806 citation--see below). Is it the earliest appearance of
the phrase, period?

Well, consider the circumstances under which the phrase appears in the
other citation.

http://goo.gl/4Gjk0
Letters of the late Lord Lyttleton. New Edition. [Ed. by William
Combe; Baron Thomas Lyttelton.] London: 1806
Letter XLIII. p. 166
> On this account, F------- observed that it put him in mind of the mention made, in /Tristram Shandy/, of a text which would suit any sermon, and a sermon which would suit any text. This the zealous preacher loudly declared was a false insinuation; for that his text was steady to its post, nor had ever deserted it; and that whoever took him for a man who would hold out a false flag, or change his colours, on any occasion, mistook his character, and did him a very sensible injustice. At this period, the master of the house returned from a quiet but fruitless examination of his book-case, for the purpose of finding, perchance, some old printed sermon which might have served the doctor's purpose, prolonged the pleasure of his society, aud saved him his dark and dangerous journey.

Note that, though these were letters, any coarseness had been taken
out of them. From the Introduction,

> But no alteration has been made in any individual letter, except an occasional retrenchment of expressions, which, however common in fashionable life, or unobserved in fashionable conversation, would pot justify their being condensed into print, and might give cause of offence to the scrupulous reader.

More importantly, the puzzling absence of dates is also explained:

> As these letters were, in general, without any dates, and not one of them marked with that of the year, it was thought proper to omit them throughout. The /thirtieth/ letter, which appears to have been written the last of the collection, bears, in the manuscript copy, a conjectural date of the summer of 1775.

So, irrespectively of the order of the letters in the publication, the
43d letter was certainly written /before/ 1775. Not only that, but the
usage is already figurative, so the whole idea of posing under a false
flag, literally, has been around for a long time. On a battlefield it
might have been customary to refer to it as "false colours" (the ones
that "don't run", I suppose), but it would make no sense to use the
same expression figuratively, as there were no "colours" to speak of,
so "flag" would have been far more appropriate.

In any case, this makes it clear that the Maritime Law book was not
the earliest use of the phrase "false flag", printed or otherwise. For
one, the original edition of Lyttleton letters would have predated it,
if only by a year. But the letters themselves are considerably older.

And I am not even trying to go into other variations on the theme,
including all the ones that Garson (and the OED) mention.

Also note that the OED entry on "false colour" is somewhat confused,
as there are actually three of them under "false"--one where "false
colour" is only mentioned, one that defines it in reference to
water-colors, and one that uses the phrase as a verb--and all this
even before jumping to the article on "colour".

VS-)

On Sat, Apr 16, 2011 at 1:45 PM, Garson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Â Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> OED has no entry for "false-flag" anything. Ā GB has nothing on "false-flag
>> operation" before the 1980s. Ā  Not that the idea hadn't been around.
>
> OED does have  "fight, etc., under false colours" and "to show false
> colours" where colours refers to a flag
>
> colour | color, n.1
> 6. b. In phrases, as to come out in one's true colours , to show one's
> colours , etc. To this sense prob. belong the earlier examples of to
> fight, etc., under false colours , which at a later date became
> associated with the next sense.
>
> c1540 Â  Â Destr. Troy 11496 Â  He set hom a cas, What fortune might
> falle vndur fals colour.
>
>
> false, adj., adv., and n.
> 14. a. Navy and Mil. Counterfeited for the purpose of deception;
> feigned, pretended; as in false attack, false lights, false ports,
> false signal. Also in phrases (often fig.), ā€ to show false colours ,
> to hang out false colours (see colour n.1 Phrases 3b); under false
> colour(s (see colour n.1 Phrases 3a).
>
> c1540 Â  Â Destr. Troy 11496 Â  He set hom a cas, What fortune might
> falle vndur fals colour.

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