Arikah Map

Jolly Roger

Jolly Roger:A typical Jolly Roger
Enlarge
A typical Jolly Roger

The Jolly Roger is the traditional flag of European and American pirates, envisioned today as a skull over crossed bones on a black field.


Contents

Origins of the term

The origins of the term "Jolly Roger" are unclear.

One theory is that it comes from the French term "joli rouge," ("red beauty") which the English corrupted into "Jolly Roger". This may be likely as there were a series of "red flags" that were feared as much, or more, than "black flags". The origin of the red flag is likely that English privateers flew the red jack by order of the Admiralty in 1694. When the War of Spanish Succession ended in 1714, many privateers turned to piracy and some retained the red flag, as red symbolized blood. No matter how much seamen dreaded the black pirate standard, all prayed they never encountered the joli rouge. This red flag boldly declared the pirates' intentions: that no life would be spared. In combat practice many merchants were surprised when a fast ship changed a fellow national flag for the more portentous Jolly Roger, which was the desired effect[citation needed].

Another theory proposes that the leader of a group of Asian pirates was called Ali Raja; English pirates appropriated and corrupted the term[citation needed].

A further theory is that the name derives from the English word "roger", whence "rogue", meaning a wandering vagabond. "Old Roger" was a term for the devil[citation needed].

In his book Pirates & The Lost Templar Fleet, David Hatcher Childress claims that the flag was named after the first man to fly it, King Roger II of Sicily (c.1095-1154). Roger was a famed Templar and the Knights Of The Temple were in conflict with the Pope over his conquests of Apulia and Salerno in 1127.[1] Childress claims that, many years later, after the Templars were disbanded by the church, at least one Templar fleet split into four independent flotillas dedicating themselves to pirating ships of any country sympathetic to Rome. The flag was thus an inheritance, and its crossed bones a reference to the original Templar logo of a red cross with blunted ends. But this seems unlikely, as the Knights Templar used a Greek cross (✚) and not the Andreas cross (Χ) as used on pirates' flags.

It is possible that the skull and cross bones were intended as an insult to the Vatican and as a warning to sympathisers by mocking the Cardinal's Hat and Cross Keys symbol of the Vatican. The cross keys was certainly in use by vessels of the Vatican by the 17th Century. Many voyages to and from the 'New World' were sponsored by the Pope and European monarchs with the express purpose of acquiring gold. It must be remembered that some countries of Europe were in great religious turmoil by this time and it is likely that pirates were keen to display their neutrality to countries opposed to Rome whilst mocking the Vatican itself.

The real origin may simply lie in the fact that from early Roman times on and all through the Middle Ages, skulls and long bones were on display in catacombs, monasteries, churches, church crypts and graveyards. They are the bones that resist decay the longest, and remain long after the corpse has gone. They were then carefully laid out respecting the dead.Later, skull and long bones crossed were depicted or sculpted in said places, especially above the entrances to churches and graveyards. They served as a Memento Mori, meaning "Remind yourself of your own death." It was a general warning against the sin of vanity, reminding bypassers of their mortality. Thus, it became at once a common symbol of death and decay and a warning against the vagaries of Fortune, as well as a first hint of an emerging sense of democracy: in death, we are all equal. This complex of meanings may have played a role in later Renaissance privateers' and pirates' adopting the symbol for their own.

Use in practice

At first sight, it might seem a bad idea to forewarn your quarry by flying the Jolly Roger. However, its use may be seen as an early form of psychological warfare. A pirate's primary aim is to capture the target ship intact along with any cargo it may be carrying. With a sufficiently bloodthirsty reputation, a pirate flying the Jolly Roger could intimidate the crew of a target ship into surrender, allowing the ship to be captured without firing a shot. For example in June 1720 when Bartholomew Roberts sailed into the harbour at Trepassey, Newfoundland with black flags flying, the crews of all 22 vessels in the harbour abandoned them in panic.[2] Typically, if a ship then decided to resist, the Jolly Roger was taken down and a red flag was then flown, indicating that the pirates intend to take the ship by force and without mercy, according to several historians and the History Channel. It was hoped by many crews that this course of action would help spread the word that resistance was a poor idea for ships.

Flying the Jolly Roger too early as the only flag has its drawbacks. The quarry might have sufficient warning to attempt an escape. Also, warships were often under standing orders to fire at will at a ship flying this flag according to National Geographic.

There were many variations and additional emblems on actual Jolly Rogers. Calico Jack Rackham and Thomas Tew used variations with swords. Edward Teach (a.k.a. Blackbeard) used a skeleton holding an hourglass in one hand and a spear or dart in the other while standing beside a bleeding heart. Bartholomew Roberts (a.k.a. Black Bart) had two variations: 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 (A Barbadian's Head) and AMH (A Martiniquais' Head -- a warning to residents of Barbados and Martinique that death awaited them). Dancing skeletons signified that the pirates cared little for their fate.

Examples for a Jolly Roger

Calico Jack Rackham's Flag
Emanuel Wynne's Flag
"Blackbeard" Edward Teach's Flag
Henry Every's Flag
Thomas Tew's Flag
Stede Bonnet's Flag
Flag of Edward England
Flag of Christopher Moody
Flag of Bartholomew Roberts


Use by submarines

Jolly Roger:ORP Sokół returning from a World War II patrol flying her Jolly Roger (which traditionally signifies a successful combat mission); and a kill indicated by the swastika flag flown
Enlarge
ORP Sokół returning from a World War II patrol flying her Jolly Roger (which traditionally signifies a successful combat mission); and a kill indicated by the swastika flag flown

Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson VC, the Controller of the Royal Navy, summed up the opinion of the many in the Admiralty at the time when he said in 1901 "Submarines are underhand, unfair and damned un-English. The crews of all submarines captured should be treated as pirates and hanged." In response Lieutenant Commander (later Admiral Sir) Max Horton first flew the Jolly Roger on return to port after sinking the German cruiser SMS Hela and the destroyer SMS S-116 in 1914. During World War I, the submarine service came of age, winning five of the Royal Navy's fourteen Victoria Crosses, the first by Lieutenant Norman Holbrook, Commanding Officer of HMS B11. In World War II it became common practice for the submarines of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy to fly the Jolly Roger on completion of a successful combat mission where some action had taken place, but as an indicator of bravado and stealth rather than of lawlessness. The Jolly Roger is now the emblem of the Royal Navy Submarine Service.[1]

The Jolly Roger was brought to the attention of a post World War II public when HMS Conqueror flew the Jolly Roger on her return from the Falklands War having sunk ARA General Belgrano. In May 1991 Oberon class submarines HMS Opossum and her sister HMS Otus returned to the submarine base HMS Dolphin in Gosport from patrol in the Persian Gulf flying Jolly Rogers, the only indication that they had been involved in alleged SAS and SBS reconnaissance operations[2]. In 1999 HMS Splendid participated in the Kosovo Conflict and became the first Royal Navy submarine to fire a cruise missile in anger. On her return to Faslane, on July 9 1999, Splendid flew the Jolly Roger.[3][4]

After Operation Veritas, the attack on Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces following the 9/11 attacks in the United States, HMS Trafalgar entered Plymouth Sound flying the Jolly Roger on March 1 2002. She was welcomed back by Admiral Sir Alan West, Commander-in-Chief of the fleet and it emerged she was the first Royal Navy submarine to launch tomahawk cruise missiles against Afghanistan,[5]. HMS Triumph was also involved in the initial strikes and on returning to port had a Jolly Roger emblazoned with two crossed Tomahawks to indicate her opening missiles salvoes in the "war against terrorism" and HMS Superb's whose flag had a dagger, for force protection, a bee for her nickname (the Super B), and two communications flashes[6].

More recently, on April 16, 2003, HMS Turbulent, the first Royal Navy vessel to return home from the war against Iraq, arrived in Plymouth flying the Jolly Roger after launching thirty Tomahawk cruise missiles. [7]

Use by United States Navy aviators

In the U.S. Navy, the Jolly Roger is associated with aviation. The use of the Jolly Roger by U.S. naval aviation dates back to the formation of VF-17 in January of 1943. Flying the Chance Vought F4U "Corsair," VF-17 produced more aces than any other squadron and many top aces. VF-17 initated the use of the Jolly Roger, and it is still in use at present.For several decades, the "Bones" used a distinctive black-and-gold paint scheme that was instantly identifiable from a great distance, and feared by their foes. During the 1990s, under official orders, the Bones experimented with a low-visibility paint scheme, trading their bold colors for subdued greys. However, they eventually returned their fighters to their classic colors. VFA-103 is the current "Bones" fighter squadron of the U.S. Navy. The Fighting Eighty-Four carried the Jolly Rogers name for 40 years before being deactivated on September 29, 1995. Two days later, the Fighting 103 (formerly the Sluggers) would become the fourth fighter squadron to carry the Skull and Crossbones.

Jolly Roger Squadron history:

Other uses

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ General information on the Royal Navy Submarine Service use and history of the Jolly Roger
  2. ^ Opossum and Otus were seen returning to HMS Dolphin ... with a jolly roger
  3. ^ Barton Gellman U.S., NATO Launch Attacks on Yugoslavia Washington Post 25 March 1999
  4. ^ Swiftsure Class Nuclear Fleet Submarines
  5. ^ Trafalgar Returns March 1, 2002
  6. ^ HMS Triumph and HMS Superb
  7. ^ Cruise missile sub (HMS Turbulent) back in UK by Richard Norton-Taylor in The Guardian April 17, 2003

Categories


Articles with unsourced statements | Flags | Symbols | Cross symbols | Piracy

Find

Find

Find