Pirate Flags
The Jolly Roger
Where would a pirate be without a flag? That infamous black flag, the Jolly Roger struck fear into the hearts of pirate's prey and is today an essential part of any pirate movie. Pirate ships would sail under "false colours" - the flag of whichever country dominated the waters they were in. Then, as they closed on their target, they would take strike the false colour and replace them with the Jolly Roger.There are several possible origins of the name "Jolly Roger". One theory is that it derived from the French "jolie rouge", the red flag used by some of the early privateers. Some later pirates also flew a red flag to indicate that no quarter would be given and no prisoners taken. A black flag would be flown first to give the victims time to surrender. If they didn't do so then the red flag would be hoisted and the attack commence.
Another theory has the name "Roger" connected to the word "rogue" - Old Roger being a slang term for the devil.
One of the first people known to use the term "Jolly Roger" was the short-lived pirate John Quelch. Others attribute the first use of the Skull and Crossbones to John Avery. The first example of a skull above crossed bones is probably that of the Caribbean pirate Edward England.
Skull and Crossbones
We normally think of the Jolly Roger as consisting of a skull and cross-bones, possibly because of the later adoption of this design by the US Air Force. It would be more accurate to talk of many Jolly Rogers rather than just one.When you buy a pirate flag from a store today it will almost certainly be black with a white skull and either crossed bones or crossed swords. This is considered the "traditional" Jolly Roger of history - the basic design might well have been borrowed from cap badges worn by some early European armies.
Whilst many original pirate flags contained those elements, their design varied tremendously. Each captain and ship had its own design. This provided a sense of camaraderie amongst the crew as well as stroking the captain's ego! Some of the most famous pirates didn't fly the skull and crossbones at all - for instance the flag of Blackbeard (Edward Teach) showed a full skeleton holding an hourglass and a spear.
Today, of course, the skull and crossbones is still a symbol that indicates danger, usually poison. It's also a popular symbol that you can buy on all manner of goods from rings and jewelry through to belt buckles and even hoodies!
Why Fly the Flag?
People sometimes wonder why pirates would hoist the Jolly Roger and give away their intentions - would it not have been better to stay in disguise until the last minute? Some stories attribute this to piratical courage, not wanting to be sneaky and underhand. More likely the reasons were entirely practial. The psychological effect of seeing the Jolly Roger raised was probably more effective - especially on a pressganged crew - than the element of surprise. Why fight the enemy when you can scare them into surrender?