Old Roger (Jolly Roger)
The Old Roger flag is a loose term for a historical variant of the pirate naval ensign Jolly Roger, whose motif consists of a skeleton on a black field, holding an hourglass in one hand and a dart striking a heart in the other. The general design is noted to have been used by a number of Golden Age pirates, but the association with the name Old Roger is modern.
The name "Old Roger" is an old humorous or familiar name for the devil, or death.
Accounts
[edit]The design is described in several period accounts for several pirates, such as famous Golden Age pirates Charles Harris[1] and Francis Spriggs.[2]
The name "Old Roger" in association with the design is found in a news report in the Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer (London, Saturday, 19 October 1723; Issue LVII, p. 2, col. 1):
“Parts of the West-Indies. Rhode-Island, July 26. This Day, 26 of the Pirates taken by his Majesty Ship the Greyhound, Captain Solgard, were executed here. Some of them delivered what they had to say in writing, and most of them said something at the Place of Execution, advising all People, young ones especially, to take warning by their unhappy Fate, and to avoid the crimes that brought them to it. Their black flag, under which they had committed abundance of Pyracies and Murders, was affix'd to one Corner of the Gallows. It had in it the Portraiture of Death, with an Hour-Glass in one Hand, and a Dart in the other, striking into a Heart, and three Drops of Blood delineated as falling from it. This Flag they called Old Roger, and us'd to say, They would live and die under it.”[3]
Francis Spriggs' flag was described in The Political state of Great Britain (Volume XXVIII, August 1724):
“..their black Ensign, in the Middle of which is a large white Skeleton, with a Dart in one Hand, and in the other an Hour Glass.”[2]
A Richard Hawkins, who was captured by pirates in 1724, reported that the pirates had a black flag bearing the figure of a skeleton stabbing a heart with a spear, which they named "Jolly Roger".[4]
Blue variant
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According to one source, pirate Charles Harris used a blue version of the Old Roger flag.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Little, Benerson (2016). The Golden Age of Piracy: The Truth Behind Pirate Myths. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781510713048. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- ^ a b "The Political state of Great Britain. V28 1724". HathiTrust. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
- ^ Old Roger is Jolly Roger, Linquistlist, American Dialect Society
- ^ David Cordingly (1995). Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates, New York: Random House, p. 117.
- ^ Little, Benerson (2016). The Golden Age of Piracy: The Truth Behind Pirate Myths. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781510713048. Retrieved 28 September 2017.