Jolly Roger

Jolly Roger

A typical Jolly Roger flag. This 19th-century Barbary Corsairs flag is one of two known authentic Jolly Rogers in the world, currently residing at the Åland Maritime Museum in Finland.^[1] Flag in current condition to the right. Color-corrected version to the left.

Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the ensign flown to identify 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 today – the skull and crossbones symbol on a black flag – was used during the 1710s by a number of pirate captains, including Black Sam Bellamy, Edward England, and John Taylor. It became the most commonly used pirate flag during the 1720s, although other designs were also in use.