The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is currently displaying a genuine Jolly Roger Pirate Flag c. 1790, on loan with the kind permission of Mrs Pamela Curry. It is believed that this flag was captured by Admiral Richard Curry somewhere off the coast of North Africa.
Although small, the design is an excellent example of the dreaded skull and crossbones flag of the pirate ship. Pirates used flags to frighten passing ships into surrendering without a fight. The original pirate flags were blood red, and this signalled that no mercy would be shown once the pirates boarded and battle ensued. As piracy developed, more flags were used, and pirates often had their own flags. The Jolly Roger, (a skull and cross bones) is the most famous pirate flag. The symbol had been appropriated from the symbol used in ships logs, where it represented death on board. It was first used as pirate flag around 1700 and quickly became popular with pirates, who designed their own version of the flag, e.g. a skull and crossed swords.
Recent conservation work on the flag suggests that the black stains and small holes in the flag are gunpowder burns.
Richard Noyce, Curator of Artefacts comments: Pirates always attract much interest, no doubt in part due to the many Hollywood films about them however, in reality they werent the loveable rogues they are often portrayed as. Then, as now, pirates were seen as a threat to trade and great efforts were made to supress their criminal activities.
Organised piracy and privateering was finally ended in the nineteenth century and although piracy has never returned to the level it was in previous centuries, it has not completely disappeared and the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary continue to be at the forefront in the fight against piracy that threatens international shipping lanes.
It is stories such as these relating to the on going work of the Royal Navy that the NMRN are keen to tell in their new 20th/21st Century galleries set to open in 2014.