The “Flying Tigers” (Traditional Chinese: 飛虎隊; Simplified Chinese: 飞虎队; Pinyin: Fēi Hǔ Duì; Japanese: フライング・タイガース) was the nickname of the American Volunteer Group, a group of USAAF, USN and USMC pilots recruited under a secret Presidential sanction by Claire Chennault, that formed a fighter group with three squadrons that trained in China and defended the Burma supply line to China prior to the American entry into World War II to fight against Japanese forces. The AVG did not see combat until December 20, 1941, thirteen days after Pearl Harbor. The Flying Tigers achieved notable success against the forces of Japan during the lowest period of the war for American forces, and gave hope to Americans that they would eventually succeed against the Japanese. The Flying Tigers were credited for destroying almost 300 aircraft with a loss of only twelve of their own in combat. After the dissolution of the AVG in mid-1942 and absorption into the USAAF, the name was applied to its successor military unit, the 23rd Fighter Group, and more broadly to the China Air Task Force and the U.S. 14th Air Force. The shark-faced fighters remain among the most recognizable of any individual combat unit of WWII, and they demonstrated innovative tactical victories when the news in the USA were filled with little more than stories of defeat after defeat at the hands of the Japanese forces at the start of WWII. In the Second Sino-Japanese War prior to World War II, foreign volunteer pilots of Flying Tigers carried notices printed in Chinese that informed the locals that this foreign pilot was fighting for China and they were obliged to help them. A text from one such blood chit read as follows:

I am an American airman. My plane is destroyed. I cannot speak your language. I am an enemy of the Japanese. Please give me food and take me to the nearest Allied military post. You will be rewarded.

When the USA officially joined the war in 1941, flight crew survival kits included blood chits printed in 50 different languages that sported a US flag and promised a reward for a safe return of a pilot. The kit might also include gifts like gold coins, maps or sewing needles. Many US flight crews that flew over Asia had their "blood chit" sewn to the back of their flight jackets. Some units just added the blood chit to the flight suit when others gave the blood chit only for the specific flights in exchange of personal belongings. US pilots have carried blood chits in the Korean and Vietnam Wars and in every armed conflict since. The modern version also includes some money.

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