Jolly Roger

Jolly Roger, the name popularly given to a flag flown by pirate ships as seen through the eyes of writers of piracy stories. It was supposed to be a white skull on a black ground, sometimes with crossed bones below the skull. There is, however, no evidence that such a flag was ever flown by a pirate ship at sea. If there ever were a general flag which might be recognized as a pirate flag, it would probably be the plain black flag which some pirate ships were occasionally reported as flying from their main masthead.

Another version of a pirate flag was said to be a black skeleton on a yellow field, but this may have been a mistaken impression of the imperial flag of Austria, which was a black double-headed eagle on a yellow field. During the 18th century a number of privateers sailed under Austrian letters of marque, which were much easier to obtain than those of other nations. As many privateers flying the imperial flag of Austria behaved little better than pirates, the impression may well have gained ground that this was in fact the pirate flag.