When it comes to the pirate mystique, nobody can imagine a pirate ship without a great black flag, decked out in skull and bones, flying proudly from its mast. Yet, few people know much about pirate flags at all. What did they mean? What were they used for? How important were they?
To put it simply, flags were important, but it actually depended on which captain was flying it. Pirate ships were like self-contained nations. The captain was the “ruler” of his ship, and each captain had his own flag, sort of like how a country does. The colors were almost always red or white on black and images were featured prominently. Images of skeletons and skulls symbolize death, as pirates wanted to pretend they had no fear of it. Swords and canons symbolize strength and some flags even had hearts and the images of the pirates themselves.
Many of these symbols were taken from graveyards. The popular skull and crossbones symbol could have come from tombstones. There is also another theory where the skull and crossed bones represented Jesus Christ on old-time crucifixes. The skull and bones were put under Christ to symbolize that Christ had triumphed over death which also referred to the actual crucifixion site which was known as Golgotha in Greek, meaning “the skull.”
In early days, pirates often kept many flags. At first, they flew the national flags of their countries. This was known as flying under “false colors” and it was an effective way of lowering people’s suspicions about them, because anyone flying a national flag was believed to be operating as an agent of that state, and would be heavily punished for engaging in war acts without express permission. The pirates didn’t care about this at all and would fly these flags in order to prey on unsuspecting merchant ships. It was only after a 1694 law that made the flying of a red flag – called a “Red Jack” – mandatory for pirates that they moved on to personal flags.
They usually had three battle flags – a plain red one, a white one, and a plain black one – so that before a battle, they could hoist them to let other ships know whether they were taking prisoners or not. The solid black flag was a first demand for surrender. It would often be raised before a battle began to give another ship the chance to surrender. A white flag was used by pirates in pursuit of another ship. It was meant to say “you must surrender” rather than “you are more likely to be left alive if you surrender.” The red flag was the most dangerous because it meant slaughter everyone, or “give no quarter.” No prisoners would be taken and everyone was going to be killed.
As time went on, they started keeping just one, usually the red flag which was given the nickname joli rouge in French, which was then anglicized to “Jolly Roger.” Joli rogue means “pretty red.” Some researchers believe that it could have also originated from the word “Roger.” In 17th century England, the word rogue was used in laws that were meant to prevent vagrancy in the country. “Roger” then became synonymous with vagabonds, beggars, and vagrants. As pirates were considered rogues and scoundrels, this may have helped popularize the term. As time went on, many pirates abandoned the personalized flag practice and chose to only fly the Jolly Roger.
Interestingly, most pirate flags were handmade by actual pirates as they were often sewn by anyone aboard who could use a needle, most often, the ship’s sail maker. They were usually made out of the same materials as sails. If they did have a flag made, it was usually paid for in stolen loot, known as blood money. As they were often made by someone who was not an expert, the size varied.
Pirate flags were an integral part of a pirate’s life. Flying a flag was the quickest way to communicate certain intentions to other ships and they were also a source of pride for the pirates flying under them.
For more information about pirate flags, check these sites:
- Pirate Flags: Some examples of pirate flags, with further details.
- An overview of Pirate Flags: Provides detailed information about pirate flags.
- Pirate Mythology: Flags: Breaks down the myths surrounding pirate flags.
- The Jolly Roger and No Quarter Given: Discusses pirate flags and the Jolly Roger.
- Pirates and Their Flags: Describes the importance of flags with images of the designs of the most famous flags.
- Pirate Flag Pictures: Some pictures of popular pirate flags.
- Fun and Interesting Pirate Facts: As seen through the eyes of Forest View Elementary School in Durham, NC
- Pirates Theme Page: All about pirates.
- Pirate Links: State of Texas Pirate links and information.
Written by Michael S. Atwood