How did pirates make their flags?

[@jackrice2770]

A couple of notes: Skulls and bones were a common medieval motif for gravestones and religiously themed artwork. Death was so common and personal an experience in historical times that people were far more comfortable with the idea than today. So the symbolism of death was a universal language right up to present day. Flag were the only means of communication over distances, and signalling flags were used by all militaries as well as civilians. The colors were also symbolic and these symbols were well understood by Europeans of all nationalities. From what I've read, a plain red flag was used in combat (land or sea) to indicate to both your troops and the opponent that no prisoners would be taken, that is, that the fight was to the death, with no quarter to be offered. Naturally, this was a pretty intimidating message. I've also read that the French called this plain red flag the "jolie rouge" meaning "pretty red", being an ironic comment on the 'no prisoners' idea. So pirates were simply using traditional means of signalling, a red flag meaning they were going to kill everyone on board if the ship didn't surrender. Black has also been associated with the anarchist movement, in that while governments had complicated flags demonstrating the authority of the king, a plain black flag indicated that the people bearing it recognized no governmental authority. The importance of symbolic representations in human culture is, of course, very complicated, and the use of various symbols to communicate ideas, as a rallying symbol, as a means of identifying friend from foe and as a means of communicating one's allegiance to a certain place, person or idea is no doubt nearly as old as human culture.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

several historians have discredited the "jolie rouge" theory as nonsensical, red flags were never referred to as such in French sources where it was usually called the bloody red or flag of no mercy

[@jackrice2770]

@@GoldandGunpowder Thanks for the correction. I wonder if this was a slang usage, never used in any sort of written work. Not sure if anyone's done research on 17th-18th Century French sailor slang, that seems a pretty obscure area. I accept the correction. My main point is that flags were a common method of communication then (and now, see American political flags emblazoned with a certain candidate's name) and there were more or less standardized meanings to most of them. Basically the pirate flag was a message to surrender or die, kind of like the highwayman's supposed command to "Stand and Deliver".

[@internetkurator9256]

​@@GoldandGunpowder Le veritable Sansmerci

[@giovannigasolini9577]

That was almost as long as the video.

[@facilegoose9347]

Some trace the heraldry to Persian pirates, where the cross bones' angle mirrors the _ecliptic plane_ (of the earth around the sun/zodiacal procession), and the skull over it Time (Zurvan, eternity)/Death, _memento mori;_ the red as well (fire).

[@loudthattrack8974]

im like 3 videos behind your release schedule but man thanks for all your work you cant imagine the comfort it brings to me

[@PoDaBo]

Maybe you should start writing essays on these topics and the recording yourself talking about them! Could be a healthy happy hobby that you can live off of

[@cletuswyns]

This is straight up one of my favorite channels

[@rachdarastrix5251]

I just assumed they would either A: Cut some plants on an island with their cutlass to strip it of hair thin fibers to make cloth. B: Stole the cloth. C: Snuck onto a sheep herdsmen island and stole some wool. D: Shot animals to make leather. As for dyes back then they used the same thing to make pigment they have for thousands of years. Extracts from the same stuff that stains clothing. Oh, I forgot maybe going into gardens and stealing flax. Lots of open possibilities.

[@rachdarastrix5251]

Don't worry, no jokes this time. Anyone else have any other ideas how it may have gotten done? Love to hear them.

[@Kai_Peters]

5:40 A whole crew of lawyers? Well, their morals do align...

[@dareethan4159]

I've always wondered this

[@unknowntrooper_2791]

Nice video. Always nice to have accurate info on pirate flags instead of memes and pop history and the wrong flags. There is a new strange world of pirate flags to be found. Cheers!

[@drshoe8744]

When I was in Sri Lanka we stopped by a Batik studio and saw how they're made with dye in hot wax, since that was a fairly wide spread practice throughout India and Indonesia, I can't help but wonder if some Pirates may have had their flags made there, or procured the tools and materials there to create them?

[@GoldandGunpowder]

Sri Lanka is "a bit" far away from the Caribbean

[@JohnSmith-fq3rg]

Sri Lankan's did not fucking invent dyeing cloth, please think critically.

[@Ancientcaptain]

I think about the black cat flag on our flag means death, it was pretty funny him trying to convince them how scary it was , then the military finding it and thinking they were using witchcraft or something

[@christianjudeberbano3134]

Well, to be fair, a black cat also means death.

[@Rynewulf]

We still use tarpaulins in Britain to this day! Theyre usually plastic these days but any waterproof covering like that still uses the name

[@3-DtimeCosmology]

Where I am they call them tarps.

[@slygun451]

Another great episode! Very informative

[@bookofroger]

4:23 a flag theory! Thanks for watching! 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️

[@frogman-ns7yb]

Thank you so much gag for making this

[@TheRiverPirate13]

Enjoyed the video as always mate! My own opinion is that the "pirate" flags would be unique to the Pirate flying it and meant to create fear (also a threat). I don't doubt the Pirate flag designs of that time period would appear a little rudimentary to us today. Although we might be surprised if we ever could time travel back to that time period and see that there were skilled men onboard that were real artists! Lol! When designing my own Pirate flag, I decided to stick with 3 colors (Black, White and Red).

[@petecowley3481]

Damn, honestly I expected more from Bellamy. A skeleton blowing a trumpet friggin sucks

[@Kamikatzef1]

I love your vids They are nice during long train rides

[@spirospagiatis4731]

Great video as usual, can you make a video about fireships?

[@LøvæFråNordn]

These designs are so amazingly good!

[@theromanorder]

Can you do a video on how were pirate ships built? Oh right they stole, A video on accounts of them building any And how were the ships built in the first place, Also you have multiple videos on ship types and im yet to watch them so dose any one video have most of the information or should i watch them all

[@SkyKing-o9b]

Red as blood in the background and black as the heart is what the most deadly flags appear in the break of dawn.🏴‍☠️

[@gofein5879]

10:07 bohemian rhapsody jumpscare

[@Somthinglevlogger]

Haha lol 😂😂😂

[@30101Redbeard]

Do you have a source for the image at 00:36? I love the painting, and want to find it, and my Google efforts are a bit embarrassing. Thanks for the well researched content! Always a joy when you upload.

[@skeletor6789]

Cover figurehead on the bow of ships please

[@GoldandGunpowder]

on my second channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3TJhYtpfqanmpIsi=dm0FN_HNbcxlrd0m

[@frogman-ns7yb]

Good video

[@mageillus]

Nice! more info on the pirate flag! 🏴‍☠️💪

[@Tadicuslegion78]

"What is taking so long on the flag?" "None of us know how to sew."

[@JorgeL721]

Never leave shore without a stitcher, lest ye be stranded with no sails after battling the law or the sea.

[@llYossarian]

5:40 - "Sew" rhymes with _crow and hoe,_ not who and few...

[@jamesmoore3694]

well done

[@KingEdwardtheTurbulentNeill26]

Was silk the most common fabric that pirate used to make there flags then wool and cotton

[@thecreweofthefancy]

I've been doing research into that topic as well. Silk is often mentioned with an emphasis as it was special. In other cases flags are mentioned without any sort of reference to material. Wool, LINEN/HEMP sailcloth, cotton, and then silk would likely be the order common to rarest. That said cotton is a fabric that MAY have been mentioned specifically as it wasn't quite as common either. I say wool as most common as that was the usual material for flags and many clothes. Linen and hemp would be next as they were used for sails, clothes, and some equipment. If anything I'd think their use may be equal to wool for makeshift flags.

[@kylemackinnon5696]

Monkey D Luffy intensifies

[@patrickrichards2577]

✨🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿✨🤔✨🏴‍☠️✨😳✨💀✨☠️✨😱✨.

[@internetkurator9256]

Avast ye lubbers!

[@kubhlaikhan2015]

Dear God! The "Skull & Crossbones" IS NOT "the Jolly Roger", they are two very different flags. The clue is in the name, "Jolly Roger" is the English pronunciation of "Jolie Rouge" - the RED FLAG. Basically, origiinally there were no "pirate flags" as such. They would either fly no flag, a false flag or the same flags used on land. In France, in particular, that was either the red flag symbolising hunger (and therefore the threat of blood) or the black flag symbolising death. Later, various captains (allegedly) embellished their own versions. The skull and crossbones was just one such, and definitely NOT the jolie rouge.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

nope, historians have widely discredited the "jolie rouge" theory as nonsensical - there are no records of the French ever calling the red flag "joli rogue", but rather the "pavillion sans quartier"(flag called no quarter), nor was it used exclusively by the French or pirates, but by all nationalities and professions, including the navy, merchants, English, Spaniards and Dutch, simply to signal a willigness to fight, see Benerson Little's Sea Rover's Practice and E.T. Fox's Jolly Rogers, they've covered this topic quite extensively with multiple period accountings to verify their statements

[@patrickrichards2577]

✨🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿✨🥰✨👍✨♥️✨🤗✨.

[@CappoMcBadass]

After playing Sea of Thieves, I was curious what proper ship part names were. That's where it started😂 now here I am soaking up pirate lore

[@Defenestration_]

babe wake up gold and gunpowder uploaded a new video