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Confirmed Pirate Flags[edit]

The pirate flags below were in use from 1701 (Emanuel Wynne's) to 1724 (Edward Low's) and documented evidence for them (witness testimony, period newspaper articles, trial records, etc.) appears in multiple extant works on the history of piracy. The pirates described below sometimes used other flags than those shown, including solid red flags and national flags.[1]

Pirate Flag Description Flag Image
Charles Harris Harris and his pirates were hanged “under their own deep Blew Flagg which was hoisted up on their Gallows, and had pourtraied on the middle of it, an Anatomy with an Hour-Glass in one hand, and a dart in the Heart with 3 drops of blood proceeding from it, in the other.”[2] Another source describes Harris using a black flag instead of blue.[3]
Edward Low “A Day or two after they parted, Spriggs was chose Captain by the rest, and a black Ensign was made, which they called Jolly Roger, with the same Device that Captain Low carried, viz. a white Skeliton in the Middle of it, with a Dart in one Hand striking a bleeding Heart, and in the other, an Hour-Glass; when this was finished and hoisted, they fired all their Guns to salute their Captain and themselves, and then looked out for Prey.”[4]
George Lowther Lowther's Happy Delivery attacked Captain Benjamin Edwards' Greyhound in 1722. Afterwards Lowther's flag was reported in the Boston News-Letter as a black flag with a skeleton in it.[5]
John Phillips “At one end of the Gallows was their own dark Flag, in the middle of which an anatomy, and at one side of it a dart in the heart, with drops of blood proceeding from it; and on the other side an hour-glass, the sight dismal...”[5] (Alternately, his flag is sometimes depicted as similar to that flown by Edward Low.)
Francis Spriggs The pirates “hoisted Jolly Roger, for so they call their black Ensign, in the Middle of which is a large white Skeleton, with a Dart in one Hand, striking a bleeding Heart, and in the other an Hour-Glass. ... When they fight under Jolly Roger, they give Quarter, which they do not when they fight under the Red or Bloody Flag.” - Richard Hawkins’ account of his capture by Francis Spriggs, The British Journal, 8 August, 1724 and 22 August, 1724.[6]
Howell Davis The pirates “hoysted up a black flag with a Death’s head and fired several Guns at the said Ship and took her within Sight of the said Island. And the said sloop was called the Duke and Duchess and was commanded by Howell Davis and mounted with ten Guns and had 70 Men on board or thereabouts.” - from "The Information of Edward Green," 29 April 1721.[7]
Richard Worley In Johnson's General History Worley's flag is described:" He made a black Ensign, with a white Death's Head in the Middle of it, and other Colours suitable to it." [8]
Blackbeard Blackbeard's flag is described in at least one Colonial Office document as a "Death's Head".[9]
Jasper Seagar “[The] Cassandra being the Leewardmost ship was ingaged by [Seagar’s] small ship, they fought under ye black flagg att ye main topmast head with Death's head in itt ye Red flagg att the foretopmast head & St. George's Colours att. ye Ensign Staff. “ – Journal of John Barnes, Chief Mate of the Greenwich[10]
Stede Bonnet Bonnet's flag was described in the Boston Newsletter in June 1718 as a "Death's Head."[9]
Captain Kennedy Kennedy flew jack and pennant flags which had "only the head and cross bones".[11]
Samuel Bellamy “When they took Richards, Tosor and Williams they spread a large black Flag, with a Death’s Head and Bones a-cross, and gave chase to Captain Prince under the same Colours.“ - from the appendix to The Trials of Eight Persons Indited for Piracy (Boston, 1718)[12]
Edward England The records of the East India Company ships Cassandra and Greenwich report England as "flying a black flag with a skull and crossed bones at the main" in 1720.[9]
Olivier Levasseur Captain Rose of the Seaford reported an encounter with a pirate ship "of about 26 guns and 250 men" off St. Thomas. The ship flew a "white ensign with a figure of a dead man spread in it" and according to Rose was commanded by Levasseur.[13]
Olivier Levesseur “Septr. 28th: 1717 at 8 in the morning in ye Lat. of 32′8′ about 160 Leag: west from Madaira we were attacked by a French Pyratt with Death’s head in black in ye middle of a white ensign, and by the Providence of God were delivered.” - Handwritten note regarding an attack by Levasseur, in a copy of Jeremy Taylor’s Holy Living and Holy Dying[14]
Philip Lyne Lyne's flag is described in the Boston Gazette of 28 March 1726 as a "Black Silk flagg with a Representation of a Man with a Cutlass in one Hand and a Pistol in the other Extended".[7]
Emanuel Wynn Captain St. John Cranby of HMS Poole described Wynne's flag as "a sable ensigne with Cross bones, a Death's head, and an hour glase".[15]
John Cole “[T]he said Pyrates hoisted a black Flagg with a humane Skelleton on it which so much terrified the Said Ship Eagle's Company, that the men not only refused to fight, but also hindered the Officers themselves in their Duty of Defending the said Ship.”[16] Note that this may instead have been an alternate flag of Richard Worley's, who was Cole's Captain before Cole received his own captured vessel to command.
Jean Dulaien Dulaien’s flag featured “white markings, such as figures of men, cutlass, remnants of our bones, and hourglasses.”[2]
Walter (?) Kennedy[17] His flag was a "black Ensign [with] the Figure of a Man, with a Sword in his Hand, and an Hour-Glass before him, with a Death's Head and Bones." This design was also an alternate layout for the flag of Jean Dulaien.[18]
Edward Low “The latter End of July, (1723,) Low took a large Ship, called the Merry Christmas, and fitted her for a Pyrate, cut several Ports in her, and mounted her with 34 Guns. Low goes aboard of this Ship, assumes the Title of Admiral, and hoists a black Flag, with the Figure of Death in red, at the Main-topmast Head.” [19]
Edward Low “After which, [Low] ordered a Consultation Signal to be made, which was their Green Trumpeter, as they called him, hoisted at the Mizen-Peek: It was a green silk flag, with a yellow figure of a man blowing a Trumpet on it.”[20]
Bartholomew Roberts "The Jack had a Man pourtray'd in it, with a flaming Sword in his Hand, and standing on two Skulls, subscribed A B H and A M H, i. e. a Barbadian's and a Martinican's Head." [21]
Bartholomew Roberts The flag "had the figure of a skeleton in it, and a man portrayed with a flaming sword in his hand, intimating a defiance of death itself." [22]
Bartholomew Roberts The flag had “a Death [skeleton] in it, with an hour-glass in one hand and cross-bones in the other, a dart by it, and underneath a heart dropping three drops of blood.” [23]
Bartholomew Roberts An extract from the Boston News-Letter of August 22, 1720 reported: “From Barbadoes Roberts went to an Island called Granada ... their Pirate Flagg at the Topmast-Head, with Deaths Head and Cutlash, and there being 22 sail in that Harbour, upon the sight of the Pirate the Men all fled on Shore and left their Vessels.”[24]
Captain Napin Napin “had in his flag a Deaths Head and an hour glass” - Boston News Letter of August 12, 1717[14]
Thomas Nichols Nichols “ had in his flag a dart and a bleeding heart.” - Boston News Letter of August 12, 1717[14]
Pirates, as claimed by George Shelvocke Shelvocke "ordered the Emperor's colours to be hoisted, which, without any reflection look the most thief-like of any worn by honest men; those of his Imperial Majesty are a black double headed eagle upon a yellow field, and those of the pirates a yellow field and black human skeleton; which at a small distance are not easily distinguished."[25]
Florida Straits Pirates The Massachusetts brigantine Belvidere fended off an attack by a pirate schooner in the Florida Straits in May 1822. The unidentified pirates "hoisted a red flag with death's head and cross under it."[26]
Falconer Flag In 1783, William Falconer reported that the "[t]he colours usually displayed by pirates are said to be a black field, with a death's head, a battle-axe and hour-glass," but does not state which pirate or pirates allegedly showed this device.[27]
Dutch Privateer "Bloedvlag" During the Eighty Years' War, the pirates who fought alongside the Dutch Republic flew the "Bloedvlag," a red flag with an arm holding a sword. It was flown alongside the "Prinsenvlag" and the "Statenvlag," which were inspirations for the flag of the Netherlands.[28]

Unconfirmed Pirate Flags[edit]

The flags below are modern inventions, older flags attributed to the wrong pirates, or otherwise incorrectly labeled. Some pirate history sources still reprint these errors but primary sources do not support their attributions.[29]

Pirate Flag Description Flag Image
John Quelch Some sources claim that at Quelch's trial in 1704 his flag was described: "Three months later the pirates were off the coast of Brazil flying as a flag the Old Roger which was ornamented by an anatomy with an hourglass in one hand, and a dart in the heart with three drops of blood proceeding from it in the other."[14] However, actual trial documents mention no such flag.[30]
Blackbeard This flag may be incorrectly attributed to Blackbeard; the “horns” on the skeleton are unknown in period sources.[31][32]
Bartholomew Roberts This flag shows him and Death holding an hourglass.[33] It appears only as an illustration in Johnson’s General History and is not otherwise described.[34]
Jack Rackham Popularly attributed to Calico Jack[35], this flag is a modern invention, and Rackham was not documented as having flown any particular flag.[9]
Stede Bonnet Traditional depiction of Stede Bonnet's flag.[36]; Bonnet was only ever described (in the Boston Newsletter in June 1718) as having flown a “Death’s head.”[9]
Edmund ("Christopher") Condent Often shown as Condent’s flag[37]; in truth it dates only to 1922. It is often depicted in modern works as a banner or pennant rather than a standard mainmast flag.[38]
Henry Every Popular version of Henry Every's Jolly Roger. Reportedly, Every also flew a version with a black background.[39] There is no period evidence to support this as an authentic flag of Every’s.[38]
Henry Every Popular version of Every’s Jolly Roger, in black. Reportedly, Every also flew a version with a red background.[40] There is no period evidence to support this as an authentic flag of Every’s.[38]
Christopher Moody Supposedly a flag of Moody’s, this was a generic "sea rover" design dating to the late 17th or early 18th centuries and was not attributed to "Christopher" Moody until the 1930s.[7] While William Moody was a real pirate captain, he did not fly this flag; Christopher Moody was a crewman who served under Bartholomew Roberts and was never a captain, and so would not have had his own flag.[18]
Thomas Tew Often given as the flag of Thomas Tew.[41] No evidence exists that Tew ever flew such a flag, though buccaneer Edmund Cooke flew a similar one.[18]
  • In 1780, a pirate flag was captured in battle off the North African coast by Lt Richard Curry, who later became an admiral. The flag is red with a yellow skull and crossbones.[42]
  1. ^ See, inter alia, Douglas Botting (1978), The Pirates, Alexandria, VA: TimeLife Books, Inc., pp. 48–49; Angus Konstam (1999), The History of Piracy, ISBN 1-55821-969-2, Italy: Lyons Press, pp. 98–101. Some of these flags are verified by contemporary accounts such as Johnson's. As to Low's flag, for instance, Johnson writes, "Low goes aboard of this ship, [the Merry Christmas], assumes the title of admiral, and hoists a black flag, with the figure of death in red, at the main-topmast head." Charles Johnson (1724), A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates,, ed. by David Cordingly (2002), Globe Pequot, ISBN 1-58574-558-8, p. 307. Likewise, Bartholomew Roberts' flag is described in the same edition of Johnson, p. 202, thus: "The jack had a man portrayed in it, with a flaming sword in his hand, and standing on two skulls, subscribed A.B.H. and A.M.H." Roberts' other flag, showing a man and a skeleton holding up an hourglass, appears in an engraving on p. 278 of Johnson's original 1724 text (reproduced here). Kennedy's flag is as described by one of his victims, Captain J. Evans of the Greyhound Galley, according to a letter written to Johnson in the second edition of the History (1726), on p. 331 (note, however, that this capture was in 1716, and thus probably does not refer to the same Walter Kennedy who sailed first with Roberts and then on his own account from 1720–23). For Wynn's flag, see the preceding footnote. The origin of the flags for Blackbeard, Tew, Every, Condent, Worley and Bonnet are far more obscure. Ed Foxe believes that the versions of the latter six pirates' Jolly Rogers shown in the secondary sources are taken from an undated, unsourced manuscript in Britain's National Maritime Museum. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2007-07-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ a b Little, Benerson (2016). The Golden Age of Piracy: The Truth Behind Pirate Myths. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781510713048. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  3. ^ Old Roger is Jolly Roger[permanent dead link], Linquistlist, American Dialect Society
  4. ^ Johnson, Vol. 1
  5. ^ a b Dow, George Francis; Edmonds, John Henry (2012). The Pirates of the New England Coast 1630-1730. New York: Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486138145. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  6. ^ "The Political state of Great Britain. V28 1724". HathiTrust. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Fox, E. T. (2014). Pirates in Their Own Words. Raleigh NC: Lulu.com. ISBN 9781291943993. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  8. ^ Johnson, Vol. 2
  9. ^ a b c d e Lampe, Christine (2010). The Book of Pirates. Layton UT: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 9781423614807. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Greenwich Journal 30 Jul-8 Aug 1720". baylusbrooks.com. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  11. ^ Stephens, p. 144. Note that this the pirate Captain Kennedy, not the sailor Walter Kennedy who served under Bartholomew Roberts.
  12. ^ "The Trials of eight persons indited for piracy". Evans Early American Imprint Collection. March 2005. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  13. ^ Woodard, Colin (2008). The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down. Orlando FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0547415758.
  14. ^ a b c d Cordingly, David (2013). Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates. New York: Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307763075. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  15. ^ Grey, Charles (1933). Pirates of the eastern seas (1618-1723): a lurid page of history. London: S. Low, Marston & co., ltd. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  16. ^ Hughson, Shirley Carter (1894). The Carolina Pirates and Colonial Commerce, 1670-1740. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins Press. ISBN 9780722249987. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  17. ^ This the pirate Captain Kennedy, not the sailor Walter Kennedy who served under Bartholomew Roberts.
  18. ^ a b c "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2007-07-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ^ Johnson, Vol. 1
  20. ^ Daniel Defoe, George Roberts (1726). The four years voyages of capt. George Roberts. Written by himself. London: A. Bettesworth. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  21. ^ Johnson, Vol. 1
  22. ^ Johnson, Vol. 1
  23. ^ Johnson, Vol. 1
  24. ^ Jameson, John Franklin (1923). Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period by J. Franklin Jameson. New York: Macmillan. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  25. ^ Betagh, William (1727). A Voyage Round the World. London: T. Combes, J. Lacy, and J. Clarke. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  26. ^ Bradlee, F C (1922). Historical Collections of the Essex Institute. Salem MA: Essex Institute. pp. 299–300. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  27. ^ William Falconer (1783), An Universal Dictionary of the Marine, s.v. "Pirate."
  28. ^ https://www.historici.nl/pdf/vocglossarium/VOCGlossarium.pdf
  29. ^ Little, Benerson. "Pirate Myths – Page 3". Swordplay & Swashbucklers. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  30. ^ "The arraignment, tryal, and condemnation, of Capt. John Quelch, and others of his company". lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  31. ^ Fox, Ed. "Origin of Pirate Flags". Facebook. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  32. ^ "Did You Know Blackbeard's Flag is a Modern Design?".
  33. ^ Botting, p. 49; Konstam, p. 100; Johnson (1724), p. 278.
  34. ^ Johnson, Vol. 1
  35. ^ Botting, p. 48, Konstam, The History of Pirates, p. 98.
  36. ^ Botting, p. 48; Konstam, p. 99
  37. ^ Botting, p. 49, Konstam, p. 98; Frank Sherry, Raiders and Rebels, New York: Hearst Marine Books, 1986, ISBN 0-688-04684-3, illustrated p. 97, ascribed p. 98.
  38. ^ a b c Fox, E. T. (2015). Jolly Rogers, the True History of Pirate Flags. Raleigh NC: Lulu.com. pp. 13–19. ISBN 9781326448172. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  39. ^ The red version of this flag appears in Angus Konstam, Pirates: 1660–1730, Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1998, ISBN 1-85532-706-6, p. 44.
  40. ^ Black versions appear in Botting, p. 48; Konstam, The History of Pirates, p. 99; Sherry, illustrated p. 97, ascribed p. 96.
  41. ^ Botting, p. 48; Konstam, The History of Pirates, p. 101; Sherry, illustrated p. 97, ascribed p. 96.
  42. ^ "Rare Jolly Roger goes on display at Portsmouth's navy museum". BBC News. 14 December 2011.
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