Not your everyday Skull & Crossbones
"Old Roger" was an English name for the devil, it is conjectured that this is the source of the name Jolly Roger --or pirates' flag. Each pirate had his own flag and --supposedly-- it meant mercy would be shown if their prey would surrender without a fight.
Apparently, Blackbeard was so feared and such a master of psychological warfare that his victims did just that....as there is no record of anyone actually being murdered during his plundering.
Though Blackbeard was the most infamous of pirates, his flag is not the traditional "Skull & Crossbones" now almost universally accepted as the flag of piracy. That flag was first flown by French pirate Emanuel Wynn in 1700. Wynn's flag did also include an hourglass --showing his victims that their time had arrived (or run out).
This flag was further simplified into the calling-card of piracy by several captains. The flags of Richard Worley and Edward England are of this style. Perhaps the most infamously elegant flag belonged to Christopher Condent.
