A Brief History Guide of Pirate Flags

[William the Drake]

Piracy has long been a part of the sailing culture. As long as there has been maritime trade, there has been Piracy (Not even Caesar was immune!) The Discovery Age, and the years of sea trade and travel following helped promote piracy to incredible levels during the 17th and 18th century, so much so that when speaking of the Spanish main, this era is also referred to as "the Golden Age of Piracy".

 

It is no secret that pirates will be included in Naval Action, at least as NPC enemies. Unlike navies, which flew the flags of their country as their main jack, Pirate flags were mostly unique. The Pirate flag was used not only to identify the ship and crew as Pirates, but also to intimidate and send a message. Many Pirate Captains decided to use their own designs for their own needs and to send their own unique message. Here I will present a brief description of what different symbols and flags used by Pirates meant (so you may better prepare yourself when you see one of ours heading your way  )

 

The Jolly Roger: Although a specific captain's flag, the term "Jolly Roger" quickly became a blanket term for any and all pirate jacks. pirate captains just starting off or less notable may have simple black or red flags with no design; this still would have been considered a Jolly Roger and would still identify them as pirates. A few captains' designs compete for being considered the actual Jolly Roger, however it the general consensus that it was either Edward England's

 or 'Calico' Jack Rackham's

 design that was considered the Jolly Roger (NOTE: Not the first pirate flag).

The main purpose of any Jolly Roger would be to first intimidate the opposing crew in the hopes that either they would surrender without a fight, or would be fear stricken and thus be less effective in combat.

 

Black and Red fields: Pirates of the Golden Age followed a practice where the color of a flag's field sent a message in and of itself. A black field (the most common) symbolized that quarter would be given to the enemy crew if they surrendered without a fight, or should they fight, quarter would still be given to any survivors. The reason for this is that often pirate captains were looking for A: New crew, and the best way to acquire new, seasoned sailors as pirates was to coerce them to leave behind "legitimate" sailing for piracy, B: prisoners to ransom or sell back at a pirate port, or C: Political personal reasons (There are accounts of varying pirate captains acting differently to certain nationalities; an English pirate captain would give quarter and be lenient to English victims while being ruthless and giving no quarter for French victims).

A red field symbolized that no quarter was to be given. No surrender would be accepted and no survivors would be taken aboard.

 

Here is an example of when a pirate was known for flying both versions of the flag, Henry Avery:

 

Symbols and their message: As stated before, many pirate captains used their own unique designs for their flags. However, there were a number of common details used in many pirate flags that also carried a message.

 

Skull and Bones- The most common and well known of pirate flag facets, the depiction of any combination of skulls and/or bones was an easily identifiable symbol for death.

 

Death- The depiction of Death, or the Grim Reaper (or in some cases, the Devil), on pirate flags was a common practice. Often depicted as either a skeleton, demon, or ghoul, Death would be used to symbolize that "Death is upon you" or Death has come". Death would also often be depicted with a spear in hand in some cases.

 

The Hourglass- Another common practice for pirate flags was the image of a simple hourglass, such as the one depicted under the skull in Emanuel Wynn's flag. The hourglass could be depicted by itself or in the hands of Death, symbolizing that "Your time has come" or "Time is running out (for you)". The hourglass could also be depicted with wings, symbolizing that "Your time is flying away":

 

Blades and Arms- depictions of swords and daggers can be found on many pirate jacks, along with a raised arm (by itself 

or part of a body

) symbolizing that the crew was ready and willing to fight.

 

Heart- Not exactly the first thing to come to mind when thinking of pirates, the orientation of a heart on a pirate jack can be very important. If a sword or spear was pointed at or piercing a heart

, it meant that no quarter was to be given, even if it was depicted on a black field.

 

This is just a quick background of famous pirate flags and designs. The information here is true to the best of my knowledge, using a number of sources and prior knowledge, some of which are linked throughout the post (I used Wikipedia mostly for images.) I hope you all enjoy this quick into the "Hidden messages" of pirate flags. Cheers!

 

P.S. - i felt this was more history than off-topic discussion, but if this needs to be moved to the Tavern, please do so. I wasn't 100% sure where to put it. Cheers again.

Edited August 5, 2015 by William the Drake

[Thomas Blackwell]

This was an invigARRating read, friend.

[Capt Lesser Weevil]

Many Thanks William... What a great community of people this is, I would never have found out that info...

[William the Drake]

Thank you gentlemen. The age of sail is one of my favorite parts of history and Military history, and I especially love the part that Pirates play in it. I intend to post a few more topics about Pirate history concerning the Spanish Main and the time span that Naval Action takes place. 

[Devante del Nero]

Good read!

 

If anyone wants their own custom flag design let me know! I'm doing the designs for AoC but would be happy to aid fellow free captains!

 

 If it works we might even make an animated .gif like this one

[Destraex]

Nice. Now hunt them down. Pirates flourish when major navies are fighting real wars.