TRUE OR FALSE. Did the Patrouille de France draw a Russian flag in the sky in Marseille during the arrival of the Olympic flame?

Videos relayed on X suggest this. This is actually a misleading viewing angle, misleading due to the position of the planes.

Blue, white, red or red, blue, white? On Wednesday May 8, a major ceremony was organized for the arrival of the Olympic flame in Marseille. For the occasion, the Patrouille de France flew over the Marseille city on several occasions. Problem: according to several Internet users, its planes would have drawn the Russian flag in the sky instead of the French. “Today in Marseille, France, the French army managed to mix the colors and instead of the French tricolor, they put the flag Russian”we can read in a message “liked” more than 20,000 times on the social network X.

The “Russie Infos” account is also amused to see “three horizontal stripes”.

These publications, widely shared (more than 2 million views for the first and 180 views for the second), for the most part, make fun of what is in fact only a simple optical illusion. If we observe the parade from the sides, we actually have the impression that the planes diffusing the white smoke are closer, when in fact they are flying slightly higher in the sky.

Most official photos and videos, taken from the front, clearly show that the color distribution has been done correctly. The vast majority of the public – and viewers – therefore observed the French flag, and not that of Russia.

No error was therefore made, even if hiccups have already occurred in the past, such as during the ceremony of July 14, 2018, in Paris: the Patrouille de France got its brushes mixed up with an incorrect red smoke bomb. place. “It was not desired”the Air Force spokesperson admitted on Franceinfo.