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Historically the term "false flag" has its origins in naval warfare where the use of a flag other than the belligerent's true battle flag as a ''ruse de guerre'', before engaging the enemy, has long been accepted〔deHaven-Smith, Lance (2013). Conspiracy Theory in America, Austin: University of Texas Press. p.225〕 but the contemporary term False flag describes covert operations that are designed to deceive in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by entities, groups, or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them. Operations carried out during peace-time by civilian organizations, as well as covert government agencies, may (by extension) be called false flag operations if they seek to hide the real organization behind an operation. ==Use in warfare== In land warfare such operations are generally deemed acceptable in certain circumstances, such as to deceive enemies providing that the deception is not perfidious and 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:〔"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" ().〕 auxiliary cruisers operated in such a fashion in both World Wars, as did Q-ships, 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'' and the German auxiliary cruiser SMS ''Cap Trafalgar'' which had been altered to look like ''Carmania.'' (Contrary to some possibly mendacious accounts the RMS Carmania had ''not'' been altered to resemble the Cap Trafalgar.) Another notable example was the World War II German commerce raider ''Kormoran'' which surprised and sank the Australian light cruiser HMAS ''Sydney'' in 1941 while disguised as a Dutch merchant ship, causing the greatest recorded 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.〔Squires, Nick. "(HMAS Sydney found off Australia's west coast )", The Telegraph, 17 March 2008.〕 Other examples from WWII included a ''Kriegsmarine'' ensign in the St Nazaire Raid and captured a German code book: the old destroyer ''Campbeltown'', which the British planned to sacrifice in the operation, was provided with cosmetic modifications that involved cutting the ship's funnels and chamfering the edges to resemble a German Type 23 torpedo boat. By this ruse the British were able to get within two miles (3 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.〔Guinness World Records (2009), p.155〕〔Young, P (Ed) (1973) Atlas of the Second World War (London: The Military Book Society)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「False flag」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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