How was the Jolly Roger, famous flag of pirates, so named? Was there really a jolly pirate named Roger?

star_gazer

There are many theories as to how name "Jolly Roger" came about; this one does ascribe it to a pirate named Roger (not sure of how jolly he was however): 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. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_Roger Sep 02 09, 10:33 PM

zbeckabee

According to one theory, the buccaneers who operated around the West Indies in the 1600s used a red flag dipped in blood or paint, whichever could be gotten more conveniently. The French supposedly called this the "joli rouge," which the English, with their traditional disregard for the niceties of pronunciation, corrupted into Jolly Roger. Later the term was applied to the familiar black-flag-cum-bones that began to appear in various forms around 1700. An alternative hypothesis involves certain Asian pirates whose chiefs held the title Ali Raja, "king of sea." The English naturally thought that THEY were the kings of the sea, and appropriated the term, suitably amended, for their own use. Unfortunately, both these explanations, as one historian puts it, "are so plausible that neither can be accepted as correct," plausibility being pretty much a sure sign of error in the etymology business. Some venture the opinion that Jolly Roger may simply derive from the English word "roger," meaning a wandering vagabond, noting that "Old Roger" was a popular canting term for the devil. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/998/why-was-the-pirate-flag-called-the-jolly-roger Sep 03 09, 6:43 AM