Black flag

Definition

The distinguishing emblem flown by Golden Age pirates to identify themselves to a target vessel. The black field signalled a willingness to grant quarter if the target surrendered; the red flag (or “bloody flag”) signalled that no quarter would be given. Designs varied by captain — the skull, the skeleton, the hourglass (time running out), the spear, the bleeding heart — and were the personal device of the commander rather than any shared pirate ensign.

The convention of any single “pirate flag” is a post-Golden-Age invention; almost no contemporary physical specimen of any pirate flag survives.