The Plank
Day 1: Caribbean
Day 2: Charleston
Day 3: Carolina Coast
Day 4: Beaufort
Day 5: Bath
Day 6: Ocracoke

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The Origin of the "Jolly Roger" The most recognizable symbol today of pirates is the white skull and crossbones emblem on black, usually referred to as the "Jolly Roger."

However, throughout the 17th century and well into the 18th century, the common symbol hoisted by a pirate ship was a simple red flag. That red flag symbolized that it had been dipped in blood -- and that blood would be shed if the ship under attack did not surrender immediately. Some historians believe that the term "Jolly Roger" comes from a term French bucanneers used to describe their flag -- the "joli rouge." Loosely defined, that meant "pretty red" flag. It's been argued that English pirates then corrupted the pronunciation and applied it to their black flag. Thus, was the term Jolly Roger born.

Other historians believe the term comes from pirates of the eastern seas in the 1600s, who named their captains Ali Raja -- or "king of the sea." English pirates, it has been speculated, easily turned that pronunciation into Jolly Roger. Still, there are others who believe the term comes from "Old Roger" -- the term often used to refer to the devil. Finally, some historians note the similarities between the term roger -- often used to describe a vagabond -- and the term rogue.

The term "Jolly Roger" came into common use in the early 1700s. Pirates would hoist their version of the Jolly Roger as a way to announce to other ships that surrender was expected. Most merchant ships, upon seeing the Jolly Roger, did just that.

The buccaneers, like other privateers, sailed under their national flag or the flag of the nation from which they had drawn their commission. The first record of the use of the black flag is dated 1700, when a French pirate named Emanuel Wynne flew it in an engagement with H.M.S. Pooleoff Santiago.

The captain of the man-of-war described the flag as "a sable ensign with crossbones, a death's head, and an hourglass". The hourglass may have been a symbolic intimation of the short period of time available for deliberation. The skull-and-bones was an old symbol of death, and not peculiar to piracy. It was used as a cap-badge by several European armies as early as the sixteenth century. Patrick Pringle: Jolly Roger, 1953