Biplane with ‘Welcome Asim Munir’ banner welcomes army chief on US arrival

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team investigated this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image search to find the original source.

Posts from pro-military accounts on social media platform X on August 7, 2025, shared an image of a biplane with a banner reading, “Welcome Asim Munir”, claiming it flew over during Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir’s arrival in the United States. However, the image is doctored.

Sources said that the army chief is expected in the US this week for consultations with his American counterparts.

HOW IT STARTED

The iVerify Pakistan team was alerted on August 8 about a post on X and was asked to authenticate the content.

On August 7, an X user, who appeared to be pro-military based on their past posts, shared an image showing a biplane carrying a banner that read, “Welcome Asim Munir”.

The caption of the post said: “Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), chief of army staff (COAS), Islamic Republic of Pakistan, arrives in the US. On arrival, an airplane with a banner reading ‘Welcome Asim Munir’ flew past. This is the level of respect given to our army chief.”

The post gained 100,700 views.

Other shares of the same claim can be found here, here, here, here, here, and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality, to satisfy the public’s request seeking authentication for the claim and keen interest in developments related to the army chief.

A reverse image search focusing on the biplane revealed multiple versions of the same image with different banner texts, such as here dated July 30, 2022, here on April 8, 2025, and here.

Further investigation traced the image to PhotoFunia, a website offering a “Plane Banner” effect that lets users insert custom text.

Frame-by-frame comparison of the biplane, clouds and text alignment confirmed the image likely originated there.

Testing the tool using “Welcome Asim Munir” generated an identical photo to the viral version.

Furthermore, a keyword search to corroborate the development yielded no real footage or news reports of such an incident occurring.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim that a biplane with a “Welcome Asim Munir” banner flew over during the army chief’s arrival in the US is false.

The image is doctored and generated through an effect.

Evidence and References

Photo Funia website:
https://photofunia.com/effects/plane-banner