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Jolly Roger!
Flags are important symbols that communicate ideas through easily recognizable shapes and colors. In the case of pirates, these cloth messengers were effectively deployed to terrify those on whom the sea venturers preyed. A pirate's flag, it has oft been said, "would be as good as fifty men."
Hoisting a red flag, or "Red Jack", sent the message that an attack was imminent and that the intended victims could expect "no quarter given," if they did not surrender. In other words, choosing to fight meant that the end was near and no prisoners would be taken; everyone would die.
The black flag, or "Jolly Roger" as it has come to be known, is more familiar to most of us and was raised to indicate malicious intent and to intimidate the crew of the vessel intended for capture. It was a gentle reminder that offering (or appearing to offer) resistance was foolish, indeed.
Some pirates "personalized" their flags with a variety of symbols, including their initials, skulls and crossed bones (death), cutlasses and spears (violence), and an hourglass, a clever visual device indicating that "your time is up."
So how did the red and black flags come to be? Of course this, like much of pirate lore, is shrouded in speculation. As the early pirates of the Caribbean tended to be from France, it is believed by some that the name "Jolly Roger" comes from joli rouge, or literally, the "pretty red." Still others credit English pirates in the Indian Ocean with giving the nickname "Ally Roger" or "Olly Roger" and eventually, "Jolly Roger," to a Tamil pirate known as Ali Raja who was known to fly the red flag. |