What is Jolly Roger?

The Jolly Roger is any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates. The flag most usually identified as the Jolly Roger today is the skull and crossbones, a flag consisting of a human skull above two long bones set in an x-mark arrangement on a black field.
Some Jolly Roger flags also include anhourglass, another common symbol representing death in 17th- and 18th-century Europe

Jolly Roger History

The name "Jolly Roger" is thought to have come from joli rouge (pretty red), a wry French description of the bloody banner flown by early privateers. The flags were meant to strike mortal terror in the hearts of the pirate's intended victims. They often featured skeletons, daggers, cuttlasses, or bleeding hearts on white, red, or black fields. The skull and crossbones motif first appeared around 1700 when French pirate Emanuel Wynne hoisted his fearful ensign in the Caribbean -- embellished with an hourglass to show his prey that their time was running out.

Gallery


Below is some of the Jolly Roger versions I've searched through the net.