The Jolly Roger was the ensign flown by a pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century (the latter part of the Golden Age of Piracy). The vast majority of such flags flew the motif of a human skull, or "Death's Head", often accompanied by other elements, on a black field, sometimes called the "Death's Head flag" or just the "black flag".
The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly Roger todaythe skull and crossbones symbol on a black flagwas used during the 1710s by a number of pirate captains, including Samuel Bellamy, Edward England, and John Taylor. It became the most commonly used pirate flag during the 1720s, although other designs were also in use.
Etymology
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.
Johnson specifically cites two pirates as having named their flag "Jolly Roger": Bartholomew Roberts in June 1721Charles Johnson (1724), A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates, p. 250. and Francis Spriggs in December 1723.Johnson (1724), pp. 411–12. 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's nor Roberts's Jolly Roger consisted of a skull and crossbones.Bartholomew Roberts' Jolly Roger in June 1721 is simply described as "their black flag", which may or may not be the same Roberts is described as flying earlier on pp. 243–44, the man standing on a Barbadian's head and a Martinican's head. Spriggs' Jolly Roger is described as follows: "a black Ensign was made, which they called Jolly Roger, with the same device that Captain Low carried, viz. a white Skeliton in the Middle of it, with a Dart in one Hand striking a bleeding Heart, and in the other, an Hour-Glass."
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.David Cordingly (1995). Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates, New York: Random House, p. 117.
An early reference to "Old Roger" (a humorous or 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.", Linquistlist, American Dialect Society
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. Another origin includes a phonetic version of the name of a supposed Indian pirate called "Ali Rajah." Historians discount both of these origins for lack of any period reference or mention. "Roger" as a term also applied to both a scoundrel or rogue, as well as for a police officer; it also was a slang term for penis. In addition "Johnny Roger" was a nickname for Woodes Rogers, the former privateer who became Governor of New Providence charged with ending piracy in the region.
History 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.Giles Milton, White Gold (2004), p. 9: "The flags on their mainmasts depicted a human skull on a dark green background - the menacing symbol of a new and terrible enemy. It was the third week of July 1625, and England was about to be attacked by the Islamic corsairs of Barbary." There are mentions of English privateer Francis Drake flying a black flag as early as 1585, but the historicity of this tradition has been called into question.Mary Frear Keeler (ed.), Sir Francis Drake's West Indian Voyage, 1585–86 (1981), p. 161, footnote 3: "No reference to black flags on Drake's ships, mentioned also by Castellanos (Castellanos, Juan de, Discurso de el Capitan Francisco Draque .. . 1586-1587, p. 173), appears in either Spanish official accounts or English narratives." 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,Johnson, p. 66. Charles Vane, and Richard Worley in 1718,Johnson, pp. 72, 147, 344. 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 . The entry describes pirates using the flag, not on a ship but on land.BnF, Manuscrit Français 385 , f. 25, digitised on Gallica ; For a translation in English, see Pirate FlagsPirate Mythtory. : "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."
During the 17th and 18th centuries, British privateers were required to fly a specific flag, the 1606 Union Jack with a white crest in the middle, to distinguish them from Royal Navy vessels.David Cordingly (1995). Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates, New York: Random House, p. 220. Before this time, British privateers, such as Sir Henry Morgan, sailed under the Red Ensign. 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.See, e.g., Angus Konstam, Pirates: 1660–1730; Douglas Botting, The Pirates; ; etcetera. 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 Red Ensign. Just as variations on the Jolly Roger design existed, red flags sometimes incorporated yellow stripes or images symbolic of death.David Cordingly (1995). Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates, New York: Random House, p. 118. 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 organization. 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.cited after David Cordingly in Life Amongst The Pirates (1996), p. 135.
Use in practice 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.
Black and red flag
During the latter half of the Golden Age of Piracy, 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.
The "black flag" signaled that "quarter" would be given if the target surrendered their cargo/valuables, meaning that all enemies will be guaranteed mercy after surrender or capture. The "red flag" signaled that "no quarter" would be given and the target's cargo/valuables taken by force, meaning that no mercy will be shown and no life will be spared in an attack.
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.This practice is considered deceitful today, but in the period of sail it was the standard practice for all ships. There was no other way to approach an enemy or victim on the open sea if they did not want to fight. 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. 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.
The bloody flag was an already-established naval flag and was not unique to piracy. An early claim of the black and red flag combination was made in the mid-18th century by Richard Hawkins;Cordingly, p. 117. Cordingly cites only one source for pages 116–119 of his text: Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, America and West Indies, volumes 1719–20, no. 34. however, the cited content may simply relate to different pirate captains, their ships, their chosen flag and particular operating practices. The black and red flag tactic was not universal, such as the case of Charles Vane: "[he] took down his St. George's Flag, and hoisted a black Flag with a Death's Head in it, which is their Signal to intimate, that they will neither give or take Quarter."
Function in practice 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: