Jolly Roger

Use of the term Jolly Roger in reference to pirate flags goes back to at least Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates, published in Britain in 1724 and in fact has no connection to the given name Roger.^[3]

Johnson specifically cites two pirates as having named their flag "Jolly Roger": Bartholomew Roberts in June 1721^[4] and Francis Spriggs in December 1723.^[5] While Spriggs and Roberts used the same name for their flags, their flag designs were very different, suggesting that already "Jolly Roger" was a generic term for black pirate flags rather than a name for any single specific design. Neither Spriggs' nor Roberts' Jolly Roger consisted of a skull and crossbones.^[6]

Richard Hawkins, who was captured by pirates in 1724, reported that the pirates had a black flag bearing the figure of a skeleton stabbing a heart with a spear, which they named "Jolly Roger". This description closely resembles the flags of a number of Golden Age pirates.^[7]

It is sometimes claimed that the term derives from "Joli Rouge" ("Pretty Red") in reference to a red flag used by French privateers. This is sometimes attributed to red blood, symbolizing violent pirates, ready to kill.^[8]

An early reference to "Old Roger" (a humorous of familiar name for the devil, or death) is found in a news report in the Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer (London, Saturday, 19 October 1723; Issue LVII, p. 2, col. 1):

Parts of the West-Indies. Rhode-Island, July 26. This Day, 26 of the Pirates taken by his Majesty Ship the Greyhound, Captain Solgard, were executed here. Some of them delivered what they had to say in writing, and most of them said something at the Place of Execution, advising all People, young ones especially, to take warning by their unhappy Fate, and to avoid the crimes that brought them to it. Their black Flag, under which they had committed abundance of Pyracies and Murders, was affix'd to one Corner of the Gallows. It had in it the Portraiture of Death, with an Hour-Glass in one Hand, and a Dart in the other, striking into a Heart, and three Drops of Blood delineated as falling from it. This Flag they called Old Roger, and us'd to say, They would live and die under it.^[9]

The first recorded uses of the skull-and-crossbones symbol on naval flags date to the 17th century. It possibly originated among the Barbary pirates of the period, which would connect the black colour of the Jolly Roger to the Muslim Black Standard (black flag). But an early reference to Muslim corsairs flying a skull symbol, in the context of a 1625 slave raid on Cornwall, explicitly refers to the symbols being shown on a green flag.^[10] There are mentions of Francis Drake's flying a black flag as early as 1585, but the historicity of this tradition has been called into question.^[11] Contemporary accounts show Peter Easton using a plain black flag in 1612; a plain black flag was also used by Captain Martel's pirates in 1716,^[12] Charles Vane, and Richard Worley in 1718,^[13] and Howell Davis in 1719.

An early record of the skull-and-crossbones design being used on a (red) flag by pirates is found in a 6 December 1687 entry in a log book held by the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The entry describes pirates using the flag, not on a ship but on land.^[14]

17th and 18th century colonial governors usually required privateers to fly a specific version of the British flag, the 1606 Union Jack with a white crest in the middle, also distinguishing them from naval vessels.^[15] Before this time, British privateers such as Sir Henry Morgan sailed under English colours.^[7] An early use of a black flag with skull, crossbones, and hourglass is attributed to pirate captain Emanuel Wynn in 1700, according to a wide variety of secondary sources.^[16] Reportedly, these secondary sources are based on the account of Captain John Cranby of HMS Poole and are verified at the London Public Record Office.

With the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714, many privateers turned to piracy. They still used red and black flags, but now they decorated them with their own designs. Edward England, for example, flew three different flags: from his mainmast the black flag depicted above; from his foremast a red version of the same; and from his ensign staff the English national flag. Just as variations on the Jolly Roger design existed, red flags sometimes incorporated yellow stripes or images symbolic of death.^[17] Coloured pennants and ribbons could also be used alongside flags.

Marcus Rediker (1987) claims that most pirates active between 1716 and 1726 were part of one of two large interconnected groups sharing many similarities in organisation. He states that this accounts for the "comparatively rapid adoption of the piratical black flag among a group of men operating across thousands of miles of ocean", suggesting that the skull-and-crossbone design became standardized at about the same time as the term Jolly Roger was adopted as its name. By 1730, the diversity of symbols in prior use had been mostly replaced by the standard design.^[18]

Pirates did not fly the Jolly Roger at all times. The flag was intended as communication of the pirates' identity, which gave target ships an opportunity to decide to surrender without a fight. For example, in June 1720, when Bartholomew Roberts sailed into the harbour at Trepassey, Newfoundland with black flags flying, the crews of all 22 vessels in the harbour abandoned their ships in panic.^[19]

It is claimed that the Jolly Roger was part of a flag signal combination, comprising a "black flag", i.e. the Jolly Roger, and a "red flag", often called a bloody flag.

When closing on a target ship, the pirate ship would normally fly a false flag or no colours until they had their prey within firing range.^[21] Like other vessels, pirate ships usually stocked a variety of flags for various purposes.

When the pirates' intended victim was within range, the black flag would be raised, often simultaneously with a warning shot, communicating the pirates' identity to the target ship in order to persuade them to surrender without a fight. Surrendering without a fight meant that they would cooperate with the pirate's demands and allow them to rifle through their cargo, which was sometimes rewarded with some cargo being left alone. To signal "yes", the victim ship would have to take down their own flag, in naval terminology called "striking their flag".

Followed by warning shots, if the enemy did not strike their own flag to signal surrender, the pirates would raise the red flag, which would signal that the cargo would be taken by force and that "no quarter would be given" to prisoners. If the pirates had several ships, the raising of the bloody flag could also act as the signal "to attack" for the rest of the ships.^[20] The pirate captain Jean Thomas Dulaien would wait for the enemy to fire three or more cannon shots after raising the red flag before giving the order to attack with no quarter given.^[22]

An early claim of the black and red flag-combo was made in the mid-18th century by Richard Hawkins,^[23] however, the cited content may simply relate to different pirate captains, their ships, their chosen flag and particular operating practices. The bloody flag was already an established naval flag and was not unique to piracy.

In view of these models, it was important for a prey ship to know that its assailant was a pirate, and not a privateer or government vessel, as the latter two generally had to abide by a rule that if a crew resisted, but then surrendered, it could not be executed:

An angry pirate therefore posed a greater danger to merchant ships than an angry Spanish coast guard or privateer vessel. Because of this, although, like pirate ships, Spanish coast guard vessels and privateers were almost always stronger than the merchant ships they attacked, merchant ships may have been more willing to attempt resisting these "legitimate" attackers than their piratical counterparts. To achieve their goal of taking prizes without a costly fight, it was therefore important for pirates to distinguish themselves from these other ships also taking prizes on the seas.^[24]

Flying a Jolly Roger was a reliable way of proving oneself a pirate. Just possessing or using a Jolly Roger was considered proof that one was a criminal pirate rather than something more legitimate; only a pirate would dare fly the Jolly Roger, as he was already under threat of execution.^[25]

Before 1700, pirates flew a plain black flag together with the red (“bloody”) flag, the use of emblems first taking the scene in the 18th century.^[28]

Key elements commonly found on a Jolly Roger flag typically include (some rarer than others):

• Skull and crossbones – The skull, historically called "death's head" (compare with German: totenkopf),^[29] represents death and danger, emphasizing the pirates' ruthless and deadly reputation. The crossbones are often positioned behind or beneath the skull and create an "X" shape. They symbolize crossed swords or bones, signifying violence and conflict.
• Human skeleton – the period depiction of the personification of death, sometimes carrying out symbolic gestures of suffering and death, such as stabbing a heart with a spear, wielding weapons and even signal instruments.^[29]
• Hourglass – symbolizing that the life of the attacked is running out.^[29]
• Bundle of arrows – an older regal or state symbol alluding to the proverb that arrows can be easily broken one by one but are unbreakable if tied together, however, in the case of the Jolly Roger, more likely to symbolize implements of death.^[29]
• Sword or sword arm – symbolizing implements of death.^[29]
• Pistol – symbolizing implements of death.^[29]
• Cannon – symbolizing implements of death.^[29]
• Powder horn or signal horn – symbolizing implements of death.^[29]

Pirates sometimes used a national flag symbolize their nationality or their allegiance to a nation.^[30]

Jolly Roger variations possibly existed as a type of personal calling card to be associated with a certain pirate crew's reputation and thus make enemies surrender more easily, however, this is not mentioned by period sources.^[29] Flag motifs could often not be made out at longer ranges, thus, flag details was more likely an internal mark of identity for the crew. Historically, most pirates reused the same designs as their peers, possibly to partake in the reputation of others, eventually leading to designs such as the skull and crossbones becoming the norm.^[29]

Following the introduction of submarines in several navies circa 1900, Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson, the First Sea Lord of the British Royal Navy, stated that submarines were "underhanded, unfair, and damned un-English", and that he would convince the British Admiralty to have the crews of enemy submarines captured during wartime hanged as pirates.^[31]

In September 1914, the British submarine HMS E9 successfully torpedoed the German cruiser SMS Hela.^[32] Remembering Wilson's statements, commanding officer Max Horton instructed his submariners to manufacture a Jolly Roger, which was flown from the submarine as she entered port.^[31][32] Each successful patrol saw Horton's submarine fly an additional Jolly Roger until there was no more room for flags, at which point Horton had a large Jolly Roger manufactured, onto which symbols indicating E9's achievements were sewn.^[32] A small number of other submarines adopted the practice:^[32] HMS E12 flew a red flag with the skull and crossbones on return from a foray into the Dardanelles in June 1915,^[33] and the first known photograph of the practice was taken in July 1916 aboard HMS H5.^[34]

The practice restarted during World War II. In October 1940, following a successful patrol by HMS Osiris, during which she sank the Italian destroyer Palestro, the submarine returned to Alexandria, but was ordered to remain outside the boom net until the motorboat assigned to the leader of the 1st Submarine Flotilla had come alongside.^[33][35] The flotilla leader wanted to recognise the boat's achievement, so had a Jolly Roger made and delivered to Osiris.^[35][a] After this, the commanders of submarine flotillas began to hand out the flags to successful submarines.^[35] Although some sources claim that all British submarines used the flag,^[36] the practice was not taken up by those submarine commanders who saw it as boastful and potentially inaccurate, as sinkings could not always be confirmed.^[32] During the war, British submarines were entitled to fly the Jolly Roger on the day of their return from a successful patrol: it would be hoisted as the boat passed the boom net, and remain raised until sunset.^[35]

Symbols on the flag indicated the history of the submarine, and it was the responsibility of the boat's personnel to keep the flag updated.^[32][35] The Royal Navy Submarine Museum (which, as of 2004, possessed fifteen Jolly Rogers) recognises 20 unique symbols.^[37] A bar denotes the torpedoing of a ship: red bars indicated warships, white bars represented merchant vessels, and black bars with a white "U" stood for U-boats.^[37][38] A dagger indicated a 'cloak and dagger' operation: typically the delivery or recovery of shore parties from enemy territory.^[36][38] Stars (sometimes surrounding crossed cannon) stood for occasions where the deck gun was fired.^[36] Minelaying operations were shown by the silhouette of a sea mine: a number inside the mine indicated how many such missions.^[36] A lighthouse or torch symbolised the boat's use as a navigational marker for an invasion force; the latter more particularly associated with Operation Torch.^[38][39] Rescue of personnel from downed aircraft or sunken ships was marked by a lifebuoy.^[36] Unique symbols are used to denote one-off incidents: for example, the Jolly Roger of HMS Proteus included a can-opener, referencing an incident where an Italian destroyer attempted to ram the submarine, but ended up worse off because of damage to the destroyer's hull by the submarine's hydroplanes, while HMS United added a stork and baby when the boat's commander became a father while on patrol.^[40][41] Flying the Jolly Roger continued in the late 20th century and on into the 21st. HMS Conqueror raised the flag decorated with the silhouette of a cruiser^{[citation needed]} to recognise her successful attack on the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War.^[37] Several submarines returning from missions where Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired fly Jolly Rogers with tomahawk axes depicted, with crossed tomahawks indicating an unspecified number of firings, or individual axes for each successful launch.^[37][42] The Jolly Roger has been adopted^[when?] as the logo of the Royal Navy Submarine Service.^{[citation needed]}

The practice, while commonly associated with British submarines, is not restricted to them. During World War II, Allied submariners working with Royal Navy fleets adopted the process from their British counterparts.^[43] While operating in the Mediterranean, the Polish submarines ORP Sokół and ORP Dzik were presented with Jolly Rogers by General Władysław Sikorski, and continued to update them during the war.^[44][45] At least one British surface ship recorded their U-boat kills through silhouettes on a Jolly Roger.^[46] The Australian submarine HMAS Onslow flew the Jolly Roger in 1980, following her successful participation in the Kangaroo 3 wargame as an opposing submarine: the flag bore the silhouettes of the seven surface ships involved, as during the exercise, Onslow had successfully 'sunk' all seven.^[47]

During the Vietnam war an urgent airfield was needed at Quảng Trị by the United States forces. U.S. Seabee Battalions 1, 3, 4, 7, 11, 74, 121, and 133 all sent detachments of men and equipment to get the job done. Construction of the airfield necessitated the removal of 11,000 graves. Those detachments dubbed themselves the Ghost Battalion and chose the Jolly Roger for the Battalion's colors.^[48]

The Kuperjanov Infantry Battalion, part of the Estonian Land Forces, uses the Jolly Roger as its insignia.^[49]

Three distinct U.S. Naval Aviation squadrons have used the name and insignia of the Jolly Roger: VF-17/VF-5B/VF-61, VF-84, and VF-103, since redesignated as VFA-103. While these are distinctly different squadrons that have no lineal linkage, they all share the same Jolly Roger name, the skull and crossbones insignia and traditions.

At least twice in 2017, the USS Jimmy Carter, an American attack submarine modified to support special forces operations, returned to its home port flying a Jolly Roger.^[50] The flag was traditionally an indicative of a successful mission.

The three American destroyers named USS Kidd have all flown the Jolly Roger; they were named for US Navy Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, not for William Kidd.^[51]

The Jolly Roger is also commonly used by private PMC contractors, in form of patches velcroed on uniforms and tactical jackets.

The Jolly Roger flag became a cliché of pirate fiction in the 19th century.

The "Golden Age of Piracy" ended by the mid-18th century, and piracy was widely suppressed by the 1800s, although the problem of Barbary pirates persisted until the French conquest of Algeria in 1830.

By the Victorian era, the pirate threat had receded enough for it to become a topos of boyish adventure fiction, notably influenced by Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel Treasure Island (1883). Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Pirates of Penzance (which debuted on 31 December 1879) introduced pirates as comedic characters, and since the later 20th century, pirates sporting the Jolly Roger flag were often depicted as cartoonish or silly characters. J.M. Barrie also used it as the name of Captain Hook's pirate ship in Peter and Wendy (1904 play and 1911 novel); it was thus used in most adaptations of the character, including ABC's television series Once Upon a Time (2011–2018). Additionally, the Jolly Roger is depicted in Eiichiro Oda's manga One Piece, in which the pirate crews in the series have different designs that reflects the appearance of the captain (Straw Hat Pirates for example, the protagonist crew, having the classic skull with cross bones wearing a straw hat like the main character, Monkey D. Luffy) or a personal theme of the crew (Black Cat Pirates for example, one of the antagonist crews, having the head of a black cat with cross bones).

In the film The Island (1980), the Jolly Roger is a skull with a red dot and crossbones with an hourglass on the bottom.^[52] In Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, the Black Pearl flies a flag of skull over two crossed swords. In Black Sails, the Jolly Roger is shown at the very end as Jack Rackham's new flag.

Adam and the Ants' album Kings of the Wild Frontier (1980) includes the song, "Jolly Roger".

Kenny Chesney's single "Pirate Flag" is on his fourteenth studio album Life on a Rock (2013).

The cover of indie rock band Half Man Half Biscuit's 2005 album Achtung Bono shows a stylised Jolly Roger, featuring a grinning skull adorned with sunglasses and a halo.

The cover of Iron Maiden's album A Matter of Life and Death (2006) includes a version of a Jolly Roger depicting a helmeted Eddie and two assault rifles instead of bones, hanging from a tank.

On the cover of Michael Jackson's album Dangerous (1991), the Jolly Roger can be seen on the left side with the alteration of a skull over two swords.

The re-issued version of the Megadeth album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985), shows a stylized Vic Rattlehead skull on top of crossed swords and crossed bones. This was based on Mustaine's original drawing for the cover which the band did not have enough money to produce at the time.

The "pirate" German metal band Running Wild often references the Jolly Roger and other pirate related themes in their music. Their third album is named Under Jolly Roger.

Another "pirate" metal band Alestorm also uses Jolly Roger and other pirate related themes in their music.

The Pirates, a spinoff of the band Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, released an album called Out of their Skulls featuring a skull with crossed guitars below it.^[53]

British DJ Eddie Richards released the acid house hit "Acid Man" in 1988, under a Jolly Roger alias.

A number of sports teams have been known to use variations of the Jolly Roger.

The supporters of FC St. Pauli, a sports club from Hamburg, Germany best known for its association football team, adopted a variation of Richard Worley's flag as their own emblem. The club later bought the rights to the design and made it an official team logo.^[54][55]

The South African Football Association soccer team Orlando Pirates also has the classic Jolly Roger as their logo. Central Coast United FC in Australia use the Jolly Roger as their club crest and their active supporters are known as the Graveyard.

The short-lived Pirate Yacht Club, based in Bridlington, Yorkshire, used a red burgee defaced with a black skull and crossbones.^[56] A black skull and crossbones features on the burgee of Penzance Sailing Club, Cornwall.^[57]

•  
  Burgee of the Pirate Yacht Club, Bridlington (c.1898–1908)
•  
  Burgee of Penzance Sailing Club, replaced with the current version in the 1990s
•  
  Burgee of Buccaneer Yacht Club

"Raise the Jolly Roger!" is used in a statement by the Major League Baseball's team Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Greg Brown when the Pirates win a game.^[58] Fans of the team are known to bring Jolly Roger flags and wave them during the ballgames.^[59] The Pirates have also used versions of a skull and crossbones for their logo, with crossed bats in place of swords or bones.^[60]

The National Football League's Las Vegas Raiders' use a variation of the Jolly Roger for their logo, which depicts a head with facial features, wearing an eye patch and a helmet, and crossed swords behind the helmet.

Also in the NFL, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' use a version of Calico Jack's flag, with a carnelian red background instead of black, and an American football positioned over the intersection of two crossed swords.

The Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League have used a series of pirate Death's heads as their logo. Their current version wears a John Paul Jones-style bicorne hat emblazoned with an "A" spelled out in bones.^[61][62][63]

All these variations are seen as the logos of sporting teams in Scotland:

• The Braehead Paisley Pirates/Paisley Pirates of the Scottish National League and The Paisley Buccaneers and Riversdale Pirates of the Scottish Recreational Ice Hockey Conference
• The East Kilbride Pirates American football team in BAFA Division 1
• The Edinburgh Buccaneers basketball club of the Scottish Men's National League

The Jolly Roger is the popular icon of all University College Cork (Ireland) sports teams.^[64]

The athletic teams of East Carolina University used a stylized Jolly Roger as one of their logos. This particular variation includes an earringed and eyepatch-wearing skull donning a tricorn of purple and gold (the school's colors) emblazoned over two crossbones. This logo appears on the helmets of the school's football team, and an elaborate pre-game ritual takes place prior to each home contest wherein a flag bearing the university's Jolly Roger logo is raised on a special flagpole located behind the west end zone prior to the opening kickoff. Immediately prior to the start of the fourth quarter, the normal (black) Jolly Roger is lowered and replaced with a flag bearing the ECU Jolly Roger on a red background, indicating that the Pirates will grant their opponents "no quarter".^[65]

The Blackshirts, the starting defensive unit players for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, are represented by a Jolly Roger, somewhat similar to Richard Worley's flag but with the skull encased in the team's football helmet. Additionally, the players and fans often celebrate by "throwing the bones", where they cross the forearms in front of the chest in an 'X' imitating the logo, and the student section at Memorial Stadium, Lincoln is known as the 'Boneyard', where the logo is often displayed on banners, signs, and flags in an act of intimidation.

The early development team of the Apple Macintosh used a pirate flag to portray a "rebellious" spirit.^[66]

Before changing to a stylized "P", Sweden's Pirate Party used the Jolly Roger as its symbol, which is still used extensively in the Pirate movement. The Piratbyrån and its online database, The Pirate Bay also use either the skull and crossbones symbol, or derivatives of it, such as the logo of Home Taping Is Killing Music.

The flag of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is modeled to look like a classic Jolly Roger, with some alterations. The flag depicts a whale and a dolphin on the skull's forehead, and the crossed long-bones are replaced with a crossed trident and a shepherd's crook.

Unicode uses a sequence of U+1F3F4 🏴 WAVING BLACK FLAG and U+2620 ☠ SKULL AND CROSSBONES^[67] to display this flag.

• Anarchist flag
• Bloody flag
• Flag of Blackbeard
• Flags of the Makhnovshchina
• Maritime flag
• Ossuary
• Pesthörnchen (CCC)
• Totenkopf
• VF-61, VF-84 and VF-103, US Navy fighter squadrons nicknamed "Jolly Rogers"

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