The Jolly Roger is the flag flow by a pirate to identity themselves to the ship they are attacking. Today we know the Jolly Roger as a black flag with a white skull and two crossed bones, however historically the Jolly Roger took on many forms.

Jolly Roger seems to have been originated by Charles Johnson in his book”A General History of the Pyrates”, published in 1724. Johnson specifically cites two pirates as having named their flag Jolly Roger. The first was Bartholomew Roberts in June, 1721. The next was Francis Spriggs in July, 1723. Although they used the same name fro their flags the two designs were very different. This suggests Jolly Roger was a generic term for black pirate flags rather than a name for any single specific design. Neither flag consisted of skull and crossbones.

Many pirate leaders used flags of their own design. Blackbeard is said to have had a skeleton with a spear stabbing a heart. Edward England used the customary skull and cross bones on his flag. Edward Low used a red skeleton on a black flag. Other captains used a variation on the skull and cross bones.

Of course a pirate ship flying the Jolly Roger made an easy target for a warship hunting Pirates. So, pirates would often fly the flag of a normally neutral country to avoid unwanted attention. Then at the last minute they would run up their Jolly Roger, or show their true colors. See all these WOD’s tie together some how!

Today the Jolly Roger is used by different non-pirate related groups. The US Navy uses it for a fighter squadron. The Royal Navy has even used it on ships returning from war.