Jolly Roger

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The Jolly Roger is any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates. The flag most usually identified as the Jolly Roger today is the skull and crossbones, a flag consisting of a human skull above two long bones set in an x-mark arrangement on a black field. This design was used by several pirates, including Captains Edward England and John Taylor. Some Jolly Roger flags also include an hourglass, another common symbol representing death in 17th- and 18th-century Europe. Despite its prominence in popular culture, plain black flags were often employed by most pirates in the 17th-18th century. Historically, the flag was flown to frighten pirates' victims into surrendering without a fight, since it conveyed the message that the attackers were outlaws who would not consider themselves bound by the usual rules of engagement—and might, therefore, slaughter those they defeated (since captured pirates were usually hanged, they did not have much to gain by asking quarter if defeated). The same message was sometimes conveyed by a red flag, as discussed below.

Since the decline of piracy, various military units have used the Jolly Roger, usually in skull-and-crossbones design, as a unit identification insignia or a victory flag to ascribe to themselves the proverbial ferocity and toughness of pirates.

In a non-naval context the skull and crossbones motif has additional meanings, for example, to signify a hazard such as poison.

Origins

Term

The name "Jolly Roger" goes back at least to Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates, published in Britain in 1724.

Johnson specifically cites two pirates as having named their flag "Jolly Roger": Bartholomew Roberts in June, 1721 and Francis Spriggs in December 1723. While Spriggs and Roberts used the same name for their flags, their flag designs were quite 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.

Richard Hawkins, 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".

Despite this tale, it is assumed by most that the name Jolly Roger comes from the French words jolie rouge, meaning "pretty red" and referring to a plain red flag which was flown to indicate that the ship would fight to the death, with no quarter given or expected. During the Elizabethan era "Roger" was a slang term for beggars and vagrants who "pretended scholarship." "Sea Beggars" had been a popular name for Dutch privateers since the 16th century. Another theory states that "Jolly Roger" is an English corruption of "Ali Raja," supposedly a 17th century Tamil pirate. Yet another theory is that it was taken from a nickname for the devil, "Old Roger". The "jolly" appellation may be derived from the apparent grin of a skull.

Design

The first record of the skull-and-crossbones design being used by pirates is found in a December 6, 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.

"And we put down our white flag, and raised a red flag with a Skull head on it and two crossed bones (all in white and in the middle of the flag), and then we marched on."

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. Before this time, English privateers such as Sir Henry Morgan, who was actually a Welshman, sailed under English colours. Edward Teach, Charles Vane, and Richard Worley in 1718, and Howell Davis in 1719. An even earlier 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. Reportedly, these secondary sources are based on the account of Captain John Cranby of the 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’s design existed, red flags sometimes incorporated yellow stripes or images symbolic of death. All the secondary sources cited in the gallery below are in agreement except as to the background color of Every's flag.

File:Pirate Flag of Blackbeard (Edward Teach).svg|A Pirate flag often called the "Jolly Roger." This flag is usually attributed to Blackbeard. Similar to flags reportedly flown by Edward Lowe and Francis Spriggs File:John Quelch Flag.svg|Although referred to as "John Quelch" flag, in fact it is closer to the description of Pirate flag of John Phillips. File:Captain Dulaien Flag.svg|Walter Kennedy's Jolly Roger ensign (which was identical to the flag of Jean Thomas Dulaien). File:Bartholomew Roberts Flag.svg|Roberts' first flag shows him and Death holding an hourglass. File:Bartholomew Roberts Flag1.svg|Roberts' new flag showed him standing on two skulls, representing the heads of a Barbadian and a Martinican. File:Flag of Edward England.svg|Flag flown by "Black Sam" Bellamy and Edward England's mainmast flag. File:Pirate Flag of Stede Bonnet.svg|Traditional depiction of Stede Bonnet's flag. File:Flag of Christopher Condent.svg|Flag of pirate Christopher Condent. File:Flag of Henry Every red.svg|Popular version of Henry Every's Jolly Roger. Reportedly, Every also flew a version with a black background. File:Pirate Flag of Henry Every.svg|Black Version of Henry Every Flag. File:Flag of Christopher Moody.svg|Flag of Christopher Moody. File:Pirate Flag of Thomas Tew.svg|Possible flag of Thomas Tew. File:Richard Worley Flag.svg‎|Richard Worley's flag. File:Pirate Flag of Emanuel Wynne.svg|Emanuel Wynn's flag.

Other Jolly Rogers

Sources exist describing the Jolly Rogers of other pirates than the ones above; also, the pirates described above sometimes used other Jolly Rogers than those shown above. However, no pictures of these alternate Jolly Rogers are easily located.

John Quelch. Hanged 1704.

John Phillips. At the hanging of two of John Phillips' pirates, the Boston News-Letter reported "At one end of the gallows was their own dark flag, in the middle of which an anatomy, and at one side of it a dart in the heart, with drops of blood proceeding from it; and on the other side an hour-glass."

Edward Low. Low used at least two other flags besides his famous red skeleton. One was "a white Skeliton in the Middle of it, with a Dart in one Hand striking bleeding Heart, and in the other, an Hour-Glass." The other was described by George Roberts, a prisoner of Low, as a call to council among Low's ships: "a green silk flag with a yellow figure of a man blowing a trumpet on it."

Francis Spriggs is reported to have flown a Jolly Roger identical to one of Low's, from whom he had deserted: "a white Skeliton in the Middle of it, with a Dart in one Hand striking bleeding Heart, and in the other, an Hour-Glass." When the pirates' intended victim was within range, the Jolly Roger would be raised, often simultaneously with a warning shot.

The flag was probably intended as communication of the pirates' identity, which may have given target ships an opportunity to change their mind and 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 them in panic. If a ship then decided to resist, the Jolly Roger was taken down and a red flag was flown, indicating that the pirates intended to take the ship by force and without mercy. Richard Hawkins reports that "When they fight under Jolly Roger, they give quarter, which they do not when they fight under the red or bloody flag."

In this view of 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.

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.

Modern uses

By submarines

Following the introduction of submarines in several navies, Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson, the Controller of the Royal Navy stated that submarines were "underhand, 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.

In September 1914, the British submarine successfully torpedoed the German criuser SMS Hela. Remembering Wilson's statements, commanding officer Max Horton instructed his sailors to manufacture a Jolly Roger, which was flown from the submarine as she entered port.

The practice restarted during World War II. In October 1941, following a successful patrol by , 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. The flotilla leader wanted to recognise the boat's achievement, so had a Jolly Roger made and delivered to Osiris. 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. A dagger indicated a 'cloak and dagger' operation: typically the delivery or recovery of shore parties from enemy territory.

Flying the Jolly Roger continued in the late 20th century and on into the 21st: raised the flag decorated with the sillouette of a cruiser to recognise her successful attack on the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War of 1982, while flew a flag carrying crossed tomahawks (representing the launching of Tomahawk cruise missiles) on returning from a 2003 Iraq War deployment. Also in April 2011, returning from Operation Ellamy flew a Jolly Roger adorned with six small Tomahawk axes to indicate the missiles fired by the submarine in the operation.

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. 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 it during the war. At least one British surface ship recorded their U-boat kills through silhouettes on a Jolly Roger. The Australian submarine 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 in the exercise: Onslow had successfully 'sunk' all seven.

The 90th Bombardment Group, commanded by Col. Rogers, known as the Jolly Rogers, used the Skull and Crossed bombs insignia. The Skull and Crossed bones was used by an outfit called Russell's Raiders.

Several United States Navy squadrons have used the Jolly Roger insignia, VF-17/VF-5B/VF-61, VF-84 and VF-103, since redesignated as VFA-103.

In fiction

The 1982 anime series Macross, and the Americanized version, Robotech featured a transformable aerospace fighter with a passing resemblance to the F-14. Some aircraft bore a paint scheme inspired by VF-84. Elite pilots were members of "Skull Squadron," and the vertical stabilizers their aircraft bore a white jolly roger on a black field with a yellow strip along the top and a white stripe on the leading edge.

In Flashpoint the logo of the SRU is Henry Every's Jolly Roger with the bones replaced with swords.

In J.M. Barrie's novel Peter Pan (1911), Jolly Roger was the name of Captain Hook's ship.

The 2009 Coen Brothers film A Serious Man, featured a motel called the Jolly Roger that had a skull and crossbones on the sign.

In the 1996 movie Independence Day, the virus that Jeff Goldblum uploads to the alien mothership is called jollyroger.exe

In the pirate manga series One Piece, flags of Jolly Roger present throughout the story and the skull design usually represents the captain of the ship. For example, the manga's protagonist, Monkey D Luffy, always wear a straw hat, and so his pirate flag is a Jolly Roger with a straw hat.

In the movie "Down Periscope' the Stingray flew the Jolly Roger when they fired flares in Charleston Harbour and when XO Pascal is made to walk the plank

In music

On the cover of the 2006 Iron Maiden album, A Matter of Life and Death, a version of a Jolly Roger depicting a helmeted skull and two assault rifles instead of bones is displayed hanging from a tank.

The re-issued version of the Megadeth album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!, shows a stylized Vic Rattlehead skull on top of crossed swords and crossed bones.

By the pirate movement

Before changing to a stylized 'P', the Pirate Party used the Jolly Roger as its symbol; it is still used extensively in the Pirate movement. The Piratbyrån and 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.

In professional sports

A number of sports teams have been known to use variations of the Jolly Roger, with one of the best known in current use, an adaptation of Calico Jack's pirate flag, with a red background instead of the black, being that of the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with an American football over the crossing area of the two swords.

The supporters of FC St. Pauli, a sports club from Hamburg, Germany, best known for its association football team, have adopted a variation of Richard Worley's flag as their own unofficial emblem. Also, the Jolly Roger is the popular icon of all University College Cork (Ireland) sports teams.

It is also used in a statement by Pittsburgh Pirates Announcer Greg Brown when the Pirates win a game. Brown is known for his call "Raise the Jolly Roger" after every Pirates win. This is keeping in line with Pirate broadcasters, such as former announcers Lanny Frattare and Bob Prince, who like to end a Pirate win with a similar statement.

Another such variation is the Oakland Raiders, it uses a head with facial features, wearing an eye patch and a helmet, crossed swords behind the helmet completes the image.

All these variations are seen as the logos of sporting teams in (Scotland): The Braehead Paisley Pirates/Paisley Pirates of the Scottish National League Ice Hockey the and 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

In business

The early development team of the Apple Macintosh used a pirate flag to maintain a "rebel" atmosphere.

See also

Totenkopf

Raven Banner

Gol D Roger

References

Explanatory notes

One account states that Horton, now Commander in Chief Submarines, was visiting at the time of Osiris return, and influenced the flotilla leader's decision.

Citations

Bibliography

;Books

;Journal and news articles

;Websites

Category:Cross symbols Category:Flags Category:Piracy Category:Pictograms Category:Navy flags