Pirate Flags


Skulls and crossed bones are synonymous with pirate flags, but the use of such symbols to denote death predates the appearance of the first Jolly Roger. They are frequently found on tombstones, and ships? logs often contain skulls beside deceased crew members? names. Once pirates adopted the familiar skull and crossbones as their emblem, frequently on a field of black, anyone who saw their flags recognized the implied threat. To further intimidate their prey, pirates used other symbols. The swords found on the flags of Thomas Tew and Calico Jack Rackham symbolize power over life. Christopher Moody added an hourglass with wings to make his intentions clear: time was swiftly running out. Dancing skeletons signified that the pirates cared little for their fate. A raised glass meant they toasted death.

Why use such symbols of death and destruction to instill fear? Pirates earned their wages by capturing prizes and ransoming captives. To do battle against their opponent risked the intended cargo and ship they meant to confiscate. A fight could also mean their own deaths. Rather than resort to physical violence (although they did so when necessary), they preferred to wage psychological warfare. Woe to any merchantman who dared to defy the warning, for some pirates gave no quarter.


Pirates, navies, and merchantmen used flags to identify other ships. Most carried an assortment of ensigns aboard. The ruse de guerre was a frequent ploy that allowed ships to approach the enemy before declaring their true intentions. As they neared their target, the ship flew the national flag of the ship they approached, signifying friendship. When the prey was within range, they hoisted their true colors and caught them off guard. The first maritime flags were often solitary-colored banners and came into use during the Middle Ages. Eventually each nation adopted its own flag for easier identification and solidarity. Pirates were no different, for they considered themselves a nation (albeit one of a criminal nature). In time, anyone who saw their flag through a spyglass dreaded the meeting to come. Chinese pirates adopted different colored flags to identify each squadron. Cheng I, the commander of these fleets, may have flown a flag with an elaborate design on a field of gold or yellow. Charles Vane and Edward Teach flew the Union Jack from one mast while flying the Jolly Roger from their mainmast.


Near the start of the 18th century, the Jolly Roger gained prominence amongst pirates and captains created their own designs. Aside from those mentioned earlier, anyone who spotted a skeleton holding an hourglass in one hand and a spear or dart in the other while standing beside a bleeding heart knew who chased them ? Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard. Black Bart favored one of two flags: a man and a skeleton, who held a spear or dart in one hand, holding either an hourglass or a cup while toasting death, or an armed man standing on two skulls over the letters ABH and AMH (Said to stand for A Head from Barbados, and A Head from Martinique). The latter warned residents of Barbados and Martinique that death awaited them, for the Govenors of those islands had dared to cross Bartholomew Roberts.

Pirate Terms

Ahoy - call to attract attention, something akin to 'Hello, there!'

Anchor - a heavy weight, often shaped with hooked ends, lowered into the water to keep a ship in one place.

Avast - nautical term meaning stop what you are doing, derived/corrupted from 'hold fast'.

Ballast - stones or other heavy items placed in a ship's bottom to help it maintain a stable upright position.

Becalmed - the state of a sailing ship when it cannot move because there is no wind.

Belay - to tie or secure a rope end.

Bilge - the lowest part of the ship, bilge water is the foul, brackish sea water that would collect from seepage in this area

Black Jack - a leather tankard, made stiff with a coating of tar, used by dockside pubs and taverns to serve wine and beer.

Bowsprit - a long spar that projected from the ship's prow.

Buccaneer - early entrepreneurs who dried the meat from wild cattle and hogs on the island of Hispa?ola in the early 1600's to sell to ships returning to Europe (primarily Spain). A pirate or unscrupulous adventurer.

Capstan - a mechanism for raising and anchor, on larger ships this would often be a large ratcheted pulley with several spoke that a number of crewmen turned to wind the anchor cable up, raising the anchor a little at a time

Careen - cleaning a ship's hull of barnacles, seaweed and marine worms by beaching it and leaning it over to one side.

Corsair - maybe derived from the island name Corsica, pirate or pirate ship, esp. of Barbary (N. Africa in olden times), attacking ships of European countries; also, a French privateer, or Knights of Malta fighting the Barbary pirates. Other origins may be the Latin word corsus meaning plunder.

Cutlass - a short, curved, thick sword, the preferred weapon of many buccaneers, possibly a carry over weapon from the days of making boucan and probably more suited to the slashing melee amidst the rigging when boarding another ship than a long sword

Doubloon - gold coin minted by Spain or Spanish colonies, worth about seven weeks pay for an average sailor.

Flibustier or Filibuster - French term for pirates during the golden age (approximately the same time the term buccaneer came into wide usage)

Flogging - punishment in which a man was whipped on his naked back, often used enforce discipline and punish minor or major infractions by ordinary sailers

Freebooter - another term for a pirate, probably originating from a corruption of the Dutch vrijbuiters (plunderers), combining the words vrij meaning free and buit meaning loot

Gibbet - a wooden frame from which dead pirates were hung, often in a metal cage especially fitted for the pirate, as a warning to any others who would think of taking up a career of piracy

Gunport - a hole, sometimes with an opening shutter, for a cannon to fire through

Handing a sail - rolling a sail up, analogous to shortening a sail

Helm - tiller or wheel used to steer ship

Helmsman - the person who steers the ship

Hold - the cargo area of a ship below the main deck

Jolly Roger - the pirate flag with its skull and cross bones, see my flag page for more details

Letters of Marque - proof that a pirate/privateer is sponsored by a particular government.

Masthead - the top of a mast

Picaroon - term meaning both pirate and slaver.

Piece of Eight - Spanish silver coin, or old Spanish peso, often cut into pieces to make change.

Pirate - derived from the Greek pirate, meaning one who plunders on the sea.

Ponton - an English prison hulk, or converted ship hull, where captured pirates were held.

Privateer - a pirate working for a particular government (often provided with letters of marque to prove this), restricting prey to that of another unfriendly government.

Prize - a captured ship

Quarterdeck - highest deck at the rear of the ship, ship's officers would often stand on the quarterdeck to oversee the ship's operation

Scurvy - a disease resulting from a vitamin C deficiency, characterized by weakness, anemia and spongy gums, although in the sense of 'scurvy dog' it meant low or mean (not angry, but low in quality)

Sea rover - pirate; pirate's ship

Seams - the line where the ship's planks joined, if not sealed properly the ship would leak

Setting a sail - letting the sail down, the opposite of handing

Shorten sail - to reduce the amount of sail hanging from the yards

Sprung seam - a seam that is no longer sealed and is leaking

Tiller - a pole attached to the rudder of a ship, used for steering the ship

Topman - sailor in charge of the topsails