![]() ![]() Depending on the particular crew and captain, the flag was usually black and emblazoned with devices, sometimes the famous skull and crossed bones of a death’s head, a full skeleton or “anatomy,” crossed swords, hourglasses, darts, hearts dripping blood, or even an image of the pirate captain himself. Various pirate flags incorporated “a triad of interlocking symbols-death, violence, limited time,” 3 aspects of maritime life with which all sailors, especially pirates, were intimately familiar. The pirates’ black flags also served as the representative symbol of those men who “went on the account,” (as turning pirate was called) in the eyes of both national authorities (the crown, provincial governors, admiralty courts) and also in the eyes of the pirates themselves. Black flags of canvas or silk communicated a visual message (surrender peacefully or face battle) to potential prize ships at sea. What colonial Rhode Island’s provincial authorities were demonstrating by hanging the Jolly Roger on the scaffold with the corpses was the two-fold forcefulness of the flag. 1Īlthough the iconography may not be the typical white skull and crossed bones on a black field, this flag which Harris and pirate crew called “Old Roger” was indeed a variant of the most recognizable maritime flag in history-the Jolly Roger, the acknowledged standard of the Golden Age of Piracy’s third and final generation. This Flag they call’d Old Roger, and often used to say they would live and die under it. Their Black Flag, with the Pourtrature of Death having an Hour-Glass in one Hand, and a Dart in the other, at the end of which was the Form of a Heart with three Drops of Blood, falling from it, was affix’d at one Corner of the Gallows. A flag, the most potent and illustrative symbol of their criminal way of life, was hung with them: The pirates were not alone in hanging from the gallows. Captain Charles Harris, a 25-year-old London native, was hanged alongside his crew before a crowd of thousands gathered on shore and in boats. Twenty-six men, the youngest just seventeen and the oldest forty years of age, were hanged for the crime of piracy. ![]() This is something we can relate to, and a flag we’re proud to fly.Gravelly Point in Newport Harbor, Rhode Island, witnessed the gruesome spectacle of a mass hanging just after noon on 19 July 1723. They both represent groups of independent thinkers and outlaws. Rather than communicating the intent to plunder, we at Noah see it as a symbol of a select group whose shared ideals were forced underground, hardening their methods and resolve. Over time, it is said they evolved into outlaws and became pirates flying the flag of the Jolly Roger, the skull and crossbones.įor us, both the Jolie Rouge and the Jolly Roger are very powerful symbols and hold tremendous places in history. However, some of the Templars were warned and found escape on their ships. On a fateful F riday, the 13th to be exact, orders throughout Europe came down to arrest the Templars ending their reign of power and simultaneously freeing King Philip of his debt. One such king, Philip IV of France in collusion with Pope Clement the V, deeply in debt to the Templars, outlawed the Templars. Legend has it that they controlled tremendous wealth and used it to loan money, even to Kings. It is said that the Knights Templar, who at the time had the most powerful navy in the known world, flew the flag of the Jolie Rouge. ![]() Many theories exist about the origin of the Jolly Roger, but one theory that is that it evolved out of the french term Jolie Rouge, which happens to be red cross used in the Noah logo. But, if you tried to flee or fight, the black flag would be replaced by a red flag which meant no quarter would be given and all aboard would be killed or beaten into submission. Once the black flag was flown, you had the opportunity to relinquish. However, in its day, the black version of this flag communicated a terrifying ultimatum from an approaching pirate ship: surrender or die. The Jolly Roger may not strike fear in the hearts of those who see it today. ![]()
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