What is a Blue Falcon?

So what is a Blue Falcon? What does that even mean? In reality you should ask, “Who is a Blue Falcon?” because it’s a person and not a thing.

What does #BlueFalcon mean? The clue lies in the initials: “Blue Falcon” is an all-branches military slang for “buddy f-er.”

It’s someone who throws a fellow military member under the bus – has been around for at least half a century and appears to have civilian roots. In his book The F Word, Jesse Sheidlower notes 1968 - 1972 entries in Folk-Speech, from the Indiana University Folk Archives: where college students were using the term to describe someone who “takes someone else’s date away,” “turns around and shafts people,” or “lets somebody down.”

When “buddy f-er” became “Blue Falcon” is uncertain; the only entry in Urban Dictionary is from 2003, which found “Blue Falcon” in Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point, published in 2003 by David Lipsky, who defined it as “a polite way to invoke the initials BF – a buddy f-ck.” Lipsky quotes a West Point cadet addressing a group of plebes: “You sit in your room and get by scot-free while your friends take the heat instead of you? That’s called a Blue Falcon, and this place ain’t about Blue Falcons!”

The cool thing about “Blue Falcon” is that it sounds like something great when in reality the opposite is true. And it sounds military which makes it a perfect euphemism.

Here’s the perfect civilian example that most everyone can relate to. You’re in High School and a long Christmas break is coming and it’s the last day and 2:55 pm and one nerd raises his hand and says, “Mrs. Jones, were you going to give us homework for the holiday break?” Yeah – he was a Blue Falcon!

If you know a Blue Falcon you can let him or her know how you feel about them by sliding one of our patches in their desk drawer or backpack, or tack it on their wall.