Hoist the Colors: History of the Pirate Flag

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Since Halloween is drawing near, and spooky season is soon upon us, I figured I would celebrate with a video on one of the more unsettling parts of pirate life: their black flag, the skull and bones, the jolly roger. This flag is the most recognized pirate icon, but it is perhaps, their greatest mystery. Where did the pirates get their icons? Who invented the Jolly Roger? And...just who was Roger? These questions, will all be revealed, as we creep into the spooky mystery...of the Jolly Roger.
Sources
Once again I used a large handful of smaller and larger sources to piece together the script, so I can't be bothered to list all of them. Most are period sources written in Ye Olde Englishe which you won't bother to read anyway, so I'll recommend the most important modern works:
Jolly Rogers: The True History of Pirate Flags - E.T. Fox
The Truth Behind Pirate Myths - Benerson Little
The Sea Rover's Practice - Benerson Little
Music used
World of Warcraft - Soggy Place
Paint it Black Cover by Sam Connell on KZbin
• The Rolling Stones - P...
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
0:36 Usage
3:35 Symbols
7:26 Why the color black?
9:19 History of the Pirate Flag
12:46 Tinfoil Tricorn Time
15:42 Who was Roger?
#pirates #flags #history #hoistthecolours #jollyroger

[@slavsquatsuperstar]

Everyone asks “Who is Roger?” but no one asks “How is Roger?”

[@GoldandGunpowder]

TRUE

[@-moongorilla-]

I imagine Roger was probably jolly

[@cleverusername9369]

I'll do you one better, WHY Is Roger??

[@Barakon]

Well one ought to know who he is to want to know how he is.

[@joaolucaslages7792]

I mean... known as Jolly Roger for a reason

[@bookofroger]

But who was Roger? And why was he so damn jolly?

[@insertyournamehere4328]

Because, according to the 18:01 proposed hypothesis, as it’s name suggests- *_“F**K IS PLEASANT”_* , me ‘earty

[@_p3t3r_34]

Maybe too late to point it out lol, but isn't the motif of skull&bones, skeletons, hourglasses etc. They are a part of "memento mori". This thing was everywhere from religious icons, pamleths to gravestones. For people back then it was a commonly known association (if it ever wasn't). I'd guess it wasn't so hard for pirates to exloit the already known for everyone motif.

[@patron8597]

Right. Especially since the veterans came from the end of the 30 years war, in which such art and symbols were very common.

[@Trollvolk]

A lot of different cavalry regiments used these too. Best known I guess are the death head hussars or the Brunswick regiment. White skull on black ground as a symbol for " nor mercy is given and no mercy is expected " There are still some banners from the first world war. At least 3 regiments I know of used the skull flag from the 1630 s up to the 1930 s.

[@MarcillaSmith]

@@Trollvolk do you know if there was anyone who might have used the death's head during the _Second_ World War (she asked, naively)?

[@ottoubermachtig4377]

@@MarcillaSmith Most notoriously you see it used by elements of the SS, whether as a badge or as official insignia. A simple search is gonna give you a pretty good idea on that. Directly before WWII all manner of irregular troops use it as well, Freecorps, Finnish Freedom Fighters, you name it. So I'd find it likely that the less formal the environment, the higher the chance that you'd see skulls and bones make a return in unofficial use.

[@Robb1977]

I think thats literally the most logical reasons pirates used it. the learned capains would know their wealthy merchant/learned opponents would understand the symbol as "remember you will die" and then flew it as a way of saying "hey, remember mortality because we want your ship and we will kill you to take it"

[@ShiftyTribes]

"Several French pirates used white flags" colour me surprised 😂

[@DaeoSZ]

>be french >be the dominant military power in europe for a thousand years >lose one war in the beginning of the 20th century >never live it down

[@visionplant]

I'm not sure about Europe and the rest of the world but in feudal Japan the black robes of the shogun was acquired by dying cloth red or blue darker and darker with each time it was dyed until it becomes black. That's why it was basically like the purple of the ancient Mediterranean world

[@Blockhaj]

The Jolly Roger at Åland maritime museum was originally a very dark brown to fill in for black.

[@riograndedosulball248]

I believe that chestnut was the available black dye to Europe, though it would have required many many many washes until fabric became actually black

[@Pangolin-Mandolin]

It's a common problem that priests have when buying socks I hear... Apparently, what may look black is often just a very, very, very, very, very dark blue and it's only priests socks that are definitely black and not very, very, very, very, very dark blue.....

[@HufflepuffDaddy]

Wouldn't coal or soot (from burnt firewood) produce a very dark color, something akin to a dark gray or even black? Those materials are easily attainable over the ages.

[@dalemoss4684]

That Knights Templar skull conception story made me say WTF! Folklore will never fail to surprise me lol

[@Blockhaj]

07:00, i would like to point out that the two primary surviving period jolly rogers, from the 18th and 19th century respectively, both feature very high details in their artwork. It might not have been the norm but it seems pirates did put elbow grease into their flags, even if it only was for their own amusement.

[@RainytheNB]

Bound to be someone aboard the ship who enjoyed painting

[@LeeCausseaux]

Designing my own pirate flag has now lost importance to my new project of making a tinfoil tricorn.

[@titbaby6997]

The first group that flew a skull with crossed bones were the Templar. It was not a flag though it was on a battle standard. It represented the way the bones were arranged in an ossuary after the body had decomposed the bones were put into a small stone box. The last to go in were the femurs,crossed,with the skull resting in the center.

[@GreatWestern175]

My personal favorite Jolly Roger is the Emanuel Wynn flag that features the skull and crossbones with an hourglass below. I've always felt that flag has often been overlooked and not given as much recognition compared to the overly cliched Jolly Rogers of today's pop culture.

[@CosplayZine]

Perhaps this is why they named their flag the name: Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names Roger and Rogier. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements hrōd, χrōþi ("fame", "renown", "honour") and gār, gēr ("spear", "lance") (Hrōþigēraz).

[@Sniper_XPEHOB]

Friend: "You do not have Netflix, you do not have Disney Plus. How do you even watch movies?" Me asf:

[@blaircolquhoun7780]

I've designed my own pirate flag. It's a dragon breathing fire on a red background and the words "NO QUARTER GIVEN."

[@EclipseEngCorp.]

the ashen dragon

[@blaircolquhoun7780]

@@EclipseEngCorp. You could call it that.

[@SwashbucklingToday]

Sounds dumb

[@matteodariba6064]

​@@EclipseEngCorp. The Burning Blade ? 🙃

[@popzom4440]

Also remember flags aren’t small bits of cloth you see in video games they were fairly large

[@captncutlass4050]

Pirate flag time! Love the video as always!

[@unknowntrooper_2791]

Have to add to this older video that it is sad the small collection of fake flags is still distributed even while now we know more real pirate flags many with cool and scary designs. Cheers! 🏴‍☠️

[@dareethan4159]

YES ANOTHER FLAG EPISODE

[@spirospagiatis4731]

Hey I'm back from vacation, and that means......pirate meme time!!!! My pirate meme : (This is what happens when Charles Vane becomes too popular) Woodes Rogers (in Hades' role) : What are those??!!😠😠 Chaloner Oggle (in Pain's role) : Um, I don't know, I thought they look kinda dashing.🙂 Woodes Rogers : I've got 24 hours to get rid of this "bozo" (he means Charles Vane) , or the entire scheme I've been setting up for 18 years goes up in smoke.....and u are wearing his.........MERCHANDISE!!!!!!!!😡😡😡😡😡 (And then he sees Robert Maynard drinking rum with Vane's face on the bottle) Robert Maynard (in Panic's role) : Hehehe, thirsty?😅 Woodes Rogers : AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!😡😡😡😡😡

[@mageillus]

I’ve been wondering where you’ve been! Good to see you again!

[@scinanisern9845]

All I know is that when I looked around and saw the entire nuclear fleet strike its colors and raise the Jolly Roger the sight was chilling to the bone as I served aboard the aircraft carrier, a ship now without a country. I cant unsee that picture.

[@r.a.m.4992]

Jean Lafitte supposedly flew a multi-color flag with a star. I’m not sure how accurate that is though. It is weird that Lafitte never shows up in stories about piracy, though.

[@jacksonguillory8114]

That was the flag of cartagena, which was a settlement which Lafitte had associations with

[@dalemoss4684]

He created his own "nation" so the tricolor he flew was probably his national flag in his mind

[@monkstery]

Lafitte isn't usually talked about in association with other pirates because he wasn't active until roughly a century after the golden age of piracy.

[@dareethan4159]

5:40 Da-toot

[@richardtreat7955]

To this day in Charleston South Carolina, the old historic houses in down town. There’s iron spikes that spin on iron bars, and broken glass inserted in concrete along the tops of the brick fences that were placed to keep pirates from jumping over them. You have to look for them but they are there, and it’s against the law to remove them because of their history.

[@oldbrokensqueezebox]

All these videos are so great. Finding myself deeper and deeper in love with pirates.... if u havent yet u should try do a video on pirate music (if there was such a thing) what kind of musicians accompanied pirate partys and what kinds of instruments they played (if any) not sure if it's something u could do a video on or not I'm sure there isnt much recorded history about it but just throwing out a suggestion.... thanks for making these amazing videos so much info and cool historical imagery. Theres alot more to pirates than I ever thought and so glad I'm getting to learn all this awsome knowledge

[@GoldandGunpowder]

check out the video on shanties

[@oldbrokensqueezebox]

@@GoldandGunpowder I didnt see it till after i made the comment! I will! Thanks

[@leelynch3614]

"Do you have a flag? No flag, no country!" -Eddie Izzard XD

[@piraticvs]

I’m gonna enjoy this video like you have no idea

[@manuhakala]

Of course the French pirates flew white flags.

[@pavelslama5543]

The skull symbol was obviously meant as a warning. Also, we as a humanity still do that, whenever there is some dangerous place, or a dangerous piece of machinery, we slap a sticker with a skull on it.

[@Ramzblood]

Yes. It's Uber ancient

[@TheRiverPirate13]

I "flagged" this video to watch! Lol! Enjoyed it as always! There is one of I think two historically authenticated pirate flags on display at the Pirate Museum here in St Augustine. It is just a death head with 2 cross bones. It is hard to believe it was terrifying to see by sailors on ships being hunted. It just doesn't look that scary! Lol! I had a graphic artist create my own pirate flag and after a few versions I settled on one that pays homage to the flags of that time period but has more modern details added. It is fun to have your own Pirate Flag!

[@GoldandGunpowder]

feel free to upload the flag somewhere and send a link!

[@TheRiverPirate13]

@@GoldandGunpowder I don’t know of a way on YT. My Pirate Flag appears in the opening scenes of most of my recent YT videos. I need to post it again on my IG page.

[@Captain_Cinnamon]

This is the flag I salute to

[@williamshaw8106]

🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️

[@unknowntrooper_2791]

Great detailed overview on the topic.🏴‍☠️🦴💀☠️💘💣🗡⚔️🪦🏴🚩

[@drkalowski256]

I want to get the thumbnail tattooed

[@rachdarastrix5251]

Does this video explain why pirates loved skeletons so much?

[@Abdega]

They all aspire to be like Captain Calcium

[@MarcillaSmith]

As a child, the way I heard it: dead men tell no tales.

[@mikmik9034]

Huh? I understood that the Black Flag was "No Quarter". the White Flag, "I give up" (or striking the battle flags of a war ship from all three masts.) The RED Pennant, was a warning to stay away as munitions were being handled out of the protective magazine. [All still used today.] The skulls and bones were to make the Captain known, sort of a house flag.

[@ThexVaultxTech]

Pirates don't warn people to stay away for their own safety 😂 They used the red flag for something useful

[@mikmik9034]

@@ThexVaultxTech Flag hoists were being developed by treaty between governments, war lords not the common saior. Although the commoners picked up on the codes.

[@kappakiev9672]

Did not expect a KZbin poop/ cd-I Zelda reference here of all places

[@GoldandGunpowder]

i grew up with those

[@brodenwood895]

It's interesting how the jolly roger was used in different militaries after the golden age of piracy had ended.

[@glennbritten3044]

Dummies, it was used as a battle pendant for the Knights Templar, just follow the timeline from there!

[@A_Bottle-Of_Orange_Crush]

I have a Jolly Roger up on the wall above my bed.

[@Mike-ht6rf]

Great video.

[@tykjpelk]

5:38 thank mr skeltal

[@buffewo6386]

Fashionably late to this party... Few things based off comments here. 1. Colors: I remember reading that the Monguls (or another Empire) would aproact a target city under a white flag to show if they gave up they would just become part of the Empire. If rebuffed they would fly a black flag to show that a greater amount would be taken and the Leader executed. If no one "removed" this problem, up goes the red and everyone will be slaughtered. Trying to find the reference... Such would be known to the Educated Pirates. 2. Surrender: It was common at the times to take/give surrender. Games make us think of it being common to fight to the last man. There is a reason these events were immortalized in stories... they were rare. Surrender normally was upon given terms. "Unconditional Surrender" was much less common. 3. Rewarding surrender: Simple concept really. It takes less energy to take what someone has (the goal of piracy) if they don't fight. Less chance for you to get killed/maimed. For the victims, it means that you survive, and keep more of what is yours. You also don't enrage the murderous thugs that have captured your ship... Better for both sides. Quick surrender= less effort, less killing. If a given flag design is known to be of a "Reasonable" Captain, it is just good buissness to surrender on good terms. If your flag was known for atrocities, you may just have every crew you attack go all out because they are all ready dead. The cornered will often take as many of you as they can before they die.

[@JesusRocksTryPrayin]

uhh.. the story about the knight and the deceased and you cut to the knight in the painting's face... as though it was him who did it... COLD. but, too funny!!! :D

[@junichiroyamashita]

16:40 i saw that from Eichiiro Oda himself😂.

[@akumaking1]

USS Kidd flew the Jolly Roger in WWII and still has it to this day

[@sapeurmaboul4046]

sooo... the reputation of Edward Low is not usurped ?

[@jelkel25]

Im sure either one of the Highland clans or one of the chieftains had a flag or coat of arms with an arm holding some sort of cutlass looking sword on it. There were a number of Jacobites among the pirate captain's. I wonder if this is a connection? I'm not sure if the clans flag predates the pirates flag or if they just saw the design somewhere and liked it. Coincidentally, you said you had seen the design in a Swedish context and at least one clan was said to have been started by a Viking.

[@Locksley108]

Clan flags are ahistorical and have no basis in history

[@cheerdiver]

LP~ symbols connected to ancient Scythian (Phoenician) cultures. The Deity Hekate was known for poisonous plant horticulture. One of her symbols, aka the Jolly Roger, is still used by pharmacist and through out the chemical industry to indicate poison. It's the word for R in Rx, yet I'm having trouble relocating the term.

[@cheerdiver]

Her statues depict the holding of a torch, and are typically placed at busy crossroads. As she is derived from Helios, a corona is often depicted. As a Titan, she would have been 'blue'. Now you know who sits in NY harbor. PS According to pirate lore, a fringed flag is a captured flag, and were flown in subjugation.

[@ingold1470]

So the Theramore Deserters are the closest thing WoW has gotten to an accurate portrayal of the character of pirates?

[@GoldandGunpowder]

yeah

[@cheshire4856]

I could've sworn there was a video where he talked about sea chests, but for the life of me I can't find it, does anybody have any idea where it is, what happened to it, or if it ever even existed?

[@Kardia_of_Rhodes]

"Ye wanna know why my roger is so jolly?!?"

[@sinzooberschnitzel8777]

(This is a long comment) The skull and bones has even in much later times been used as symbol to intimidate others. It has been used by varius groups, from the serbian Chetniks, Waffen-SS, to Nester Makhno's anarchists. The skull and bones have retained it's meaning of bad things awaiting you, even well into the 20th century. From the SS using it on their uniforms to the Chetniks having it on their flag, the brutality they inflicted under the skull and bones would be beyond a pirates worst nightmare. Yet the skull and bones also retained it's message of defiance and resistance like with Nester Makhno's anarchists. Their defience of all forms of authority aswell as anyone who stood in their way also kind of matches with the pirate use of the skull and bones, lawless and reckless. From defience, resistance, plundering, and even genocide and murder. The skull and bones is a timeless symbol, but it's meaning of intimidation, death and defience has remained unchanged. ☠️🏴‍☠️

[@ProjectRedfoot]

No, no, the flag was called a "Jobby Robby"!

[@TheoryMaK15-255]

Tu sen Taak!!! My Swedish Brother... Thank You for This Fantastic Video... 30% Of my Ethnicity is Swedish DNA! So, Tu Sen Tak my Wyking Brother In Arm... For Teaching Us Great Pirate Lore and History... As A descendant of The Wyking... Thank You... TheoryMaK15

[@BRoop89]

I’ve seen this and the skull and crossbones associated with Sam Bellamy. Did he use both on different occasions?

[@KingEdwardtheTurbulentNeill26]

If I was be able to make my own pirate flag i would have the outline of Kisimul Castle with a outline of the Birrlin ship that the clan would have used when they committed piracy on one side of the flag, and on the other side a skull and crossbones with a targe shield, musket rifle and 2 Scottish basket hilt sword with the clans crest and motto with some Pictish, Nordic and Celtic designs on it

[@TheGusRo]

Great video, as usual! I still think there are at least two big differences between seeing pirates and a skinhead biker gang. Get your point, but the "quite" horizontal way a lot of pirates organized themselves cannot be overlooked as a sociological stance on some issues, even if they were far from egalitarian towards who they came across. Plus fascist bikers do have a political ideology even its shit and theyre boneheads (meaning pirates did not). But again great video and just sharing a thought mostly for the algorithm

[@aidanbob2048]

‘Several French pirates used white flags’ Lol

[@eddie7893]

Spooky

[@rachdarastrix5251]

Ever wonder why in the medieval and renaissance period people would reward you for surrendering to them? One would almost think they don't like losing their friends in battle in an effort to get what they want.

[@kamikaw7832]

I think they’d reward you if you surrendered before the killing of their friends part

[@SKILLIUSCAESAR]

Chivalry was lit

[@marcvanbueren1395]

And I just happened to be wearing my 💀 and ➕ bones shirt 😮

[@StudentGamer47]

Where does the animated clip from 0:36 come from?

[@26snoopy82]

Where did you get all your info about the flags?

[@GoldandGunpowder]

IQ test

[@thomaskovacs5094]

Seeing the swastika 😭😭😭. No not really, every time I see a swastika on the internet it doesn't mean I'm about to be robbed and butchered 😂

[@mageillus]

These pirate kings, did they went to war against each other or against a common enemy?

[@GoldandGunpowder]

each other

[@paulsteele8614]

Sam Bellamy seems like a fair guy I could be wrong but his story ended tragically and that of his wife or lady not sure if he married her or not

[@GoldandGunpowder]

if the popular story is true he left her before becoming a pirate, and died before he could return and marry her

[@paulsteele8614]

@@GoldandGunpowder thanks for confirming that

[@MazeMe]

“Several French pirates used white flags” Can’t make this shit up hahaha

[@sunandshadow6593]

I changed the likes from 69 to 70. It is written, only trumpet skeletons can scare death's heads.

[@Animalover205]

"Either they were saying this guy was the devil, or he was a d!ck" Why not both?

[@danielveldhuis5637]

Heey isn't the fake Christopher moody flag not the same design as the red Barbary corsair flag shown at 13.52 with the winged hourglass, arm with cutlass and skull and crossbones on a red background.

[@mageillus]

Pretty much, yet another misattribution

[@majorfeelgoodrecords2740]

My family finds the Japanese flag of the rising Sun like Nazi flag.

[@juliuscaesare2666]

Jolly. Roger is also. Todtenkoph.

[@skillfulsteak847]

What about the good old flag of libertalia? For god and liberty

[@elzector]

The “Jolly Roger” was named after Gol D. Roger /j

[@GoldandGunpowder]

the Howard Hamlin was real!

[@AmbroseBoaBowie]

🎺 💀

[@jillatherton4660]

👍

[@AngryPainting]

🏴‍☠️

[@brookingsbeachcomber]

300 likes old pirate

[@Mr.BeefwithChixken]

Gol D. Roger

[@sapeurmaboul4046]

11 :58 that the most ugly and stupid flag i ever see ! on the other hand 12 : 22 this one is cool ! i want to use it !

[@user-wi2ns5tf3y]

Please don’t compare pirates to nazis.

[@arturasstatkus8613]

👍♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️🏴‍☠️🏴

[@LiberalPerspectiveNews]

Yeah, symbols like the skull and bones, were symbols connected to ancient Scythian (Phoenician) cultures. Many of these people went on to populate Western Europe before and after being defeated by Rome. Places like the areas of now the United Kingdom, Spain, and more. They were not used in flags until the period this video is covering. A video which explains this aspect of pirates kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ-0np2NqLakjcU

[@LiberalPerspectiveNews]

Pirates of the Bronze Age kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ-0np2NqLakjcU

[@MrChickennugget360]

Scythians are not in any way shape or form Phoenician. One group the Scythians is a horse based indo-european group of people while the Phoenicians are an afro-semetic group who spoke Canaanite languages.

[@MrChickennugget360]

also what you said is utter nonsense.

[@LiberalPerspectiveNews]

@@MrChickennugget360 I'd advise you to look into human haplogroups data collected within the last 10-20 years. Genetics don't lie.

[@MrChickennugget360]

@@LiberalPerspectiveNews i recommend you check your data since the Phoenicians do not have R1a or R1b type DNA

[@brianholland2916]

All these videos that I've been watching on this Chanel closely resemble most black people

[@comrad_dog7456]

of course the french used a white flag 😅😂

[@HerrWayne45]

The union jack with the time delayed fuse balls is fucking sick as godamn fuck.

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

Ali Raja is a Muslim name, only Indian, not Hindu.

[@bigshot329]

literally a swatstika is not comparable im not scaredd if i see one, they cant hurt me i dont think anything nowadays could be comparable

[@delstrain8590]

The tyranny by spain-France-England and East India made Blackbeard look like a amateur.

[@michaelbasher]

If interested etc etc. Maybe we could take an interest in crowdfunding etc etc. #majicmike

[@cheshire4856]

I could've sworn there was a video where he talked about sea chests, but for the life of me I can't find it, does anybody have any idea where it is, what happened to it, or if it ever even existed?

[@GoldandGunpowder]

its coming