The origins of the term “Jolly Roger” for the black pirate flag with a skull and crossbones design are uncertain. Pirates used flags to communicate their intentions and the Jolly Roger was flown to encourage a ship to surrender. The name may have originated from the English term “rogue” and the association with crafty behavior.
Many people associate a black flag with a skull and crossbones design with pirates, and many use the term “Jolly Roger” to refer to such a flag. Since the pirate flag isn’t particularly cheerful and doesn’t seem to involve anyone named Roger, many people wonder about the origins of the name. As is often the case with popular folk terms, the meaning behind the Jolly Roger is somewhat obscure and uncertain, although several hypotheses have been put forward for the name.
Pirates have been plying the seas for centuries, usually attempting to capture ships with crew and cargo intact. Many early pirates actually ran fairly democratic ships, encouraging the crews of captured vessels to join forces and simply imprisoning those who resisted until their next call. Pirates used flags to communicate their intentions to other vessels, typically flying false colors until they got close enough to capture a vessel. The Jolly Roger was flown to encourage a ship to surrender.
Pirates typically flew black flags, with a red flag indicating that the pirates would give the resisters no quarter. The use of bones on pirate flags dates back to at least the 1600s, and possibly even earlier. Many cultures associate powerful symbolism with bones, which are meant to remind people of their own mortality and failures. Numerous variations on the skull and crossbones designs were used by pirates and, in the 1720s, several accounts referred to pirate flags as “Jolly Rogers.”
One theory behind the name is that it may be a corruption of the French jolie rouge, for “rather red,” referring to the red flags flown by some pirates. However, historians don’t see much evidence for the use of jolie rouge in reference to a pirate flag. Some theorists have also suggested that it could be an anglicisation of “Ali Raja”, a notorious Tamil pirate who terrorized the seas and also supposedly flew a black flag. Both of these folk etymologies derive the meaning of “Jolly Roger” backwards, trying to find ancient terms that could have been transmuted into a modern phrase.
While both of these explanations are colorful, the true origins are arguably more mundane. In England, “Roger” is closely related to “rogue” and many people refer to the devil as Old Roger, or say they are “rogering” someone when they are causing him trouble. Since pirates are associated with crafty behavior, naming their flag the Jolly Roger would have made sense, since thieves tend to be particularly cheerful when they do mischief, as pirates often do.
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