Selasa, 15 September 2009
♥ jolly roger
Jolly Roger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Jolly Roger is the name given to any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates.[1] The flag most usually identified as the Jolly Roger today is the skull and crossbones, being a flag consisting of a skull above two long bones set in an x-mark arrangement on a black field. This design was used by four pirates, captains Edward England, John Taylor, Sam Bellamy and John Martel. Despite its prominence in popular culture, plain black flags were often employed by most pirates in the 17th-18th century.[2] Historically, the flag was flown to frighten pirates' victims into surrendering without a fight, since it conveyed the message that the attackers were outlaws who would not consider themselves bound by the usual rules of engagement—and might, therefore, slaughter those they defeated. (Since captured pirates were usually hanged, they didn't have much to gain by asking quarter if defeated.) The same message was sometimes conveyed by a red flag, as discussed below.
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. It has also unofficially been used to signify Electric Hazard and Poisons. In this context, the background is usually red and the skull and bones are black in color
The name "Jolly Roger" goes back at least to Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates, published in 1724.
Johnson specifically cites two pirates as having named their flag "Jolly Roger": Bartholomew Roberts in June, 1721[3] and Francis Spriggs in December 1723.[4] While Spriggs and Roberts used the same name for their flags, their flag designs were quite different, suggesting that already "Jolly Roger" was a generic term for black pirate flags rather than a name for any single specific design. Neither Spriggs' nor Roberts' Jolly Roger consisted of a skull and crossbones.[5]
Richard Hawkins, 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".[6]
Despite this tale, it is assumed by most that the name Jolly Roger comes from the French words jolie rouge, meaning "pretty red".[7][8] During the Elizabethan era "Roger" was a slang term for beggars and vagrants who "pretended scholarship"[9] and was also applied to privateers who operated in the English Channel.[citation needed] "Sea Beggars" had been a popular name for Dutch privateers since the 16th century. Another theory states that "Jolly Roger" is an English corruption of "Ali Raja", the name of a Tamil pirate.[7][10] Yet another theory is that it was taken from a nickname for the devil, "Old Roger".[10] The "jolly" appellation may be derived from the apparent grin of a skull. Theories that the epithet comes from the names of various pirates, such as Woodes Rogers, are generally discredited.[citation needed]
In his book Pirates & The Lost Templar Fleet, David Hatcher Childress claims that the flag was named after the first man to fly it, King Roger II of Sicily (c.1095-1154). Roger was a famed Templar and the Knights Of The Temple were in conflict with the Pope over his conquests of Apulia and Salerno in 1127.[11] Childress claims that, many years later, after the Templars had been disbanded by the church, at least one Templar fleet split into four independent flotillas dedicated to pirating ships of any country sympathetic to Rome. If this is so, then the flag was an inheritance, its crossed bones a reference to the original Templar logo of a red cross with blunted ends. However, as shown below, many Jolly Rogers did not have crossed bones.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Jolly Roger is the name given to any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates.[1] The flag most usually identified as the Jolly Roger today is the skull and crossbones, being a flag consisting of a skull above two long bones set in an x-mark arrangement on a black field. This design was used by four pirates, captains Edward England, John Taylor, Sam Bellamy and John Martel. Despite its prominence in popular culture, plain black flags were often employed by most pirates in the 17th-18th century.[2] Historically, the flag was flown to frighten pirates' victims into surrendering without a fight, since it conveyed the message that the attackers were outlaws who would not consider themselves bound by the usual rules of engagement—and might, therefore, slaughter those they defeated. (Since captured pirates were usually hanged, they didn't have much to gain by asking quarter if defeated.) The same message was sometimes conveyed by a red flag, as discussed below.
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. It has also unofficially been used to signify Electric Hazard and Poisons. In this context, the background is usually red and the skull and bones are black in color
The name "Jolly Roger" goes back at least to Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates, published in 1724.
Johnson specifically cites two pirates as having named their flag "Jolly Roger": Bartholomew Roberts in June, 1721[3] and Francis Spriggs in December 1723.[4] While Spriggs and Roberts used the same name for their flags, their flag designs were quite different, suggesting that already "Jolly Roger" was a generic term for black pirate flags rather than a name for any single specific design. Neither Spriggs' nor Roberts' Jolly Roger consisted of a skull and crossbones.[5]
Richard Hawkins, 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".[6]
Despite this tale, it is assumed by most that the name Jolly Roger comes from the French words jolie rouge, meaning "pretty red".[7][8] During the Elizabethan era "Roger" was a slang term for beggars and vagrants who "pretended scholarship"[9] and was also applied to privateers who operated in the English Channel.[citation needed] "Sea Beggars" had been a popular name for Dutch privateers since the 16th century. Another theory states that "Jolly Roger" is an English corruption of "Ali Raja", the name of a Tamil pirate.[7][10] Yet another theory is that it was taken from a nickname for the devil, "Old Roger".[10] The "jolly" appellation may be derived from the apparent grin of a skull. Theories that the epithet comes from the names of various pirates, such as Woodes Rogers, are generally discredited.[citation needed]
In his book Pirates & The Lost Templar Fleet, David Hatcher Childress claims that the flag was named after the first man to fly it, King Roger II of Sicily (c.1095-1154). Roger was a famed Templar and the Knights Of The Temple were in conflict with the Pope over his conquests of Apulia and Salerno in 1127.[11] Childress claims that, many years later, after the Templars had been disbanded by the church, at least one Templar fleet split into four independent flotillas dedicated to pirating ships of any country sympathetic to Rome. If this is so, then the flag was an inheritance, its crossed bones a reference to the original Templar logo of a red cross with blunted ends. However, as shown below, many Jolly Rogers did not have crossed bones.
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