Romantic Hero or Bloodthirsty Robber? Unraveling Pirate Myths

For many of us, the life of Long John Silver or Blackbeard is a thrilling tale of defiance, independence, and romance. Who hasn't longed for the life of a pirate, free to go and do as we please without concern for convention or even common sense? But how much of what we have seen and heard is fact, and how much is pure fiction? In this essay, I will attempt to separate the romantic ideas of literature and film from the dark and sometimes unpleasant facts of history and its most famous cut-throats.

The Jolly Roger and Other Pirate Flags

We can all recognize the image of the pirate flag, or "Jolly Roger", waving proudly from the tall mast of a pirate galley. The skull and crossed bones has become the ultimate identifier of pirate affiliations. But what does it really mean?

History reports that the first pirate flags were not black, but red, as red was the universally recognized symbol for danger. A red flag meant that the pirates would show no mercy and would not surrender. Even the name Jolly Roger is believed to be descended from the French term jolie rouge, meaning "lovely red flag". Other sources say that the term comes from the English "Old Roger", another name for the devil. It was not until the pirate Emmanuel Wynne that the Jolly Roger acquired its characteristic look, though some sources credit this to Captain Richard Worley, and other pirates who followed often took this design to the extreme.

The skull and crossed bones was not the only symbol to appear on pirate flags, as later pirates began using the flag as a kind of instant messenger. Skeletons, the hourglass, red hearts, the cutlass, pistols, and even wings sometimes appeared in flag designs, each item having its own meaning based on its incorporation into the overall picture. For example, skeletons and skulls or bones signified death, while a bleeding heart may have meant a painful death. The hourglass usually signified time, as in how much time a ship had to surrender, and the cutlass or pistol implied violence.