In the early 1700’s it was never pleasant for a sailor to see a ship fast approaching.
Imagine being on a merchant ship in the early 1700’s and seeing the silhouette of another
vessel appear on the horizon. As the ship gets closer you can’t help but to wonder
about it, where she’s coming from, and what she wants. You know you need to focus on your
work but you can’t help glancing over your shoulder every now and again to see if the
ship is still there. Suddenly, you hear the ominous crack of a cannon. You remember the
noise too well from your days as a sailor in the Royal Navy. As you turn to look you
can’t help but notice the shock and horror on your shipmates faces. The ship is now flying
the one flag you hoped you’d never see: the Jolly Roger.
The expression “Jolly Roger” was first used in a written account in 1724 in the book
“A General History of the Pyrates” by Charles Johnson. Charles mentioned two different
captains, Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts and Francis Spriggs, that referred to their
flags as “The Jolly Roger” in the 1720’s. Neither Roberts nor Spriggs had a skull and
crossbones on their flags which means that the term Jolly Roger had probably already
been in common usage for a while, and signified the traditional black flag of piracy instead
of the common design we associate with pirates today. In a 1703 naval report it was written
that a pirate named John Quelch was sailing under the “Old Roger” off the coast of
Brazil. Old Roger was a nickname for the Devil among the English, and an image of the Devil
on a black flag was fairly common. They were all designed with the same purpose: to signify
death was approaching. Any black flag flown meant that the ship was a pirate ship and
that they would show mercy if the crew surrendered immediately. Even more terrifying was the
red flag. The red flag meant that the pirates would show no quarter.
Normally pirates were interested in a quick resolution, and so they preferred if the crew
surrendered as they didn’t want to damage any of the goods they were attempting to steal,
or the vessel, which may have been an upgrade for them. They were also interested in recruiting
more members for their own crew, so if they were flying a Red flag that usually meant
that the ship had not surrendered quick enough, or worse for the merchant crew, had tried
to fight back. In any case, seeing a ship full of pirates lowering the black flag and
raising the red must have been absolutely terrifying.The trademark skull and crossbones
on a black flag was first reported on December 6th, 1687 in a logbook where it was noted
that this type of pirate flag was used on land instead of at sea. Emanuel Wynn was the
first captain to use the Skull and Crossbones on his Jolly Roger in July 1700. Underneath
was an hourglass signifying that the merchant ship was running out of time. Jack Rackham’s
design was an offshoot of the skull and crossbones and instead of crossed bones he incorporated
cutlasses into the design. This is one of the most popular designs and has been widely
used in modern times.Pirates did not always display their Jolly Roger. Most of the time
they were flying under false colors - usually English, Spanish, French, or Dutch flags depending
on where they were and their intended prey. As the pirates got in firing range they would
lower the false flag, raise the Jolly Roger, and usually, fire a warning. The flag developed
into a calling card in time, and captains designed all kinds of different flags.
A great example of just how much fear these flags spread was the story of Bartholomew
Roberts sailing in the harbor in Trepassey, Newfoundland in June, 1720. Black Bart sailed
in under a black flag and the crews of the ships in the harbor, 22 in total, all abandoned
their vessels. It was very dangerous for someone to possess a Jolly Roger. Even if the flag
wasn’t raised the possession alone was considered enough to convict a person of piracy. For
this reason only a pirate would ever dare to fly one.
It was important for the merchant ships to know if the attackers were pirates instead
of privateers or government vessels, because the latter generally had to abide by a rule
that even if a crew resisted they could not be executed. Because of this rule it made
sense for merchants to attempt to fight back against privateers or warships; if they felt
like they were loosing and surrendered they wouldn’t be killed. To achieve the goal
of taking prizes without a difficult fight it was important for the pirates to make sure
the merchants knew the distinction between them and privateers.
Lastly, flying a Jolly Roger was a way for the crew to have some camaraderie as they
were, in essence, letting the world know they were willing to die in order to capture ships.
Most pirates active between 1716 and 1726 were part of large interconnected groups that
were all very similar in organization, which explains the rapid adoption of the Jolly Roger
among men operating across thousands of miles of ocean. Around 1730 the skull and crossbones
design because more or less standardized, and the custom flags that had previously been
used were replaced by the design we know today.
In 1724, a man named Richard Hawkins, who was captured by pirates that year, said that
the group had a black flag with the figure of a skeleton stabbing a heart with a spear,
and that they referred to as Jolly Roger. It’s interesting to note that this description
sounds EXACTLY like the Jolly Roger that Blackbeard flew 6 years before. I guess pirates didn’t
respect intellectual property back in those days either.
So that’s the history of the Jolly Roger. I hope you learned something new today. If
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