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The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly Roger today – the skull and crossbones symbol on a black flag – was used during the 1710s by a number of pirate captains, including Black Sam Bellamy, Edward England, and John Taylor. It became the most commonly used pirate flag during the 1720s, although other designs were also in use.
A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under or behind the skull. [1] The design originated in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a memento mori on tombstones. Actual skulls and bones were long used to mark the entrances to Spanish cemeteries (campo santo).
The Jolly Roger is the name given to any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates. Since the decline of piracy, various military units have used the Jolly Roger, usually in skull-and-crossbones design, as a unit identification insignia or a victory flag to ascribe to themselves the proverbial ferocity and toughness of pirates.
In some cases, other human skeletal parts may be added, often including two crossed long bones depicted below or behind the skull (when it may be referred to in English as a "skull and crossbones"). The human skull is an internationally used symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as well as piracy or toxicity.
The symbol, or some variation thereof, specifically with the bones (or swords) below the skull, was also featured on the Jolly Roger, the traditional flag of European and American seagoing pirates. It is also part of the Canadian WHMIS home symbols placed on containers to warn that the contents are poisonous.
A small number of other submarines adopted the practice: [3] HMS E12 flew a red flag with the skull and crossbones on return from a foray into the Dardanelles in June 1915, [4] and the first known photograph of the practice was taken in July 1916 aboard HMS H5. [5] The Admiralty disapproved of the practice, but was unable to stop it. [2]
The fraternity's flag is black with the letters ΦΚΣ in the center and a skull and crossbones in the upper left corner, both in gold. [2] Its members are known as “Skulls”, the name is inspired by the skull and crossbones on the fraternity's badge and coat of arms.
Its name, Totenkopf, is German for "death's head" – the skull and crossbones symbol – and it is thus sometimes referred to as the Death's Head Division. [2] The division was formed through the expansion of Kampfgruppe Eicke, a battle group named – in keeping with German military practice – after its commander, Theodor Eicke.