History Main / JollyRoger

* ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammerII'':
** Some of the faction icons for the undead pirates of the Vampire Coast are derived from Jolly Roger iconography, such as those of the Awakened (a skull surrounded by tentacles), the Dreadfleet (a vampire's skull, superimposed on three skeletal serpents), and the Pirates of Sartosa (a crowned skull flanked by three snakes on each side).
** The roving pirate fleets that must be challenged and fought in a Vampire Coast campaign include the Boyz of the Forbidden Coast, orc pirates who use a simple skull-above-crossbones, and the Shark Strait Seadogs, who use a skull flanked by bat wings.

[[caption-width-right:350:Harlock flies his colors proudly.]]

** ''Manga/CaptainHarlock'' and Emeraldas both sport the skull and crossbones motif in their flag and respective vessels, the ''Arcadia'' and the ''Queen Emeraldas''. The movie ''Arcadia of My Youth'' gives ''an'' origin story.[[note]]One of many for both characters. The Leijiverse works on MultipleChoicePast.[[/note]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDeep'': The front of the [[SubmarinePirates Dark Orca]] submarine is painted to look like a skull with crossbones. Some of the crew wear it on their clothes, while the captain, Hammerhead, goes a step further and even has a skull-shaped tattoo.

* ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'' Season 2:

* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'': The symbol of [[https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/6372193d0212d Perseus Pirates]], a historic virtual world simulating a setting filled with marauding SpacePirate bands, was a Jolly Roger with a spiral galaxy replacing the skull.

* In ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'', the player can choose between three flag designs made by the main characters once they acquire a base: Vyse's is a skull with an eyepatch over a cutlass, Aika's is a cat's head with pigtails chomping a gold coin, and Fina's is a winged dolphin.

** ''Anime/CaptainHarlock'' and Emeraldas both sport the skull and crossbones motif in their flag and respective vessels, the ''Arcadia'' and the ''Queen Emeraldas''. The movie ''Arcadia of My Youth'' gives ''an'' origin story.[[note]]One of many for both characters. The Leijiverse works on MultipleChoicePast.[[/note]]
** ''Anime/QueenEmeraldas'': When Arfressian captain El Domain starts sporting the same skull and crossbones motif on his flagship, Emeraldas takes exception and tells him to remove the symbol, which only she and Harlock have the right to bear, or else! El Domain doesn't heed her warning. Emeraldas makes good on her threat, wiping out the Arfressian fleet after they try to kill her for El Domain's wounded pride.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPussInBoots'' Captain Two-Eyed Alonso (so named because he has an ExtraEye on his forehead ''and'' an eyepatch) flies a Jolly Roger with three eyeholes.

* According to the ''Literature/{{Discworld}} Thieves Guild Diary'', the skull-and-crossbones is the official mark of piracy, and the use of the skull-and-lobsters or skull-and-kittens is strongly discouraged.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Vriska, a character strongly associated with pirates, occasionally flies a black flag marked with a horned troll skull with seven small eye sockets where the left eye would be, matching her seven-pupiled eye, when captaining ships. This version is first seen during a flashback to her and Eridan's naval battles during FLARP games, and turns up again much later when she's searching for an ancient weapon in the dream bubbles.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArms'': The symbol of [[https://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/6372193d0212d Perseus Pirates]], a historic virtual world simulating a setting filled with marauding SpacePirate bands, was a Jolly Roger with a spiral galaxy replacing the skull.
[[/folder]]

A certain amount of FridgeLogic has to be addressed regarding the use of pirate flags: it may seem counterintuitive for pirates, who needed to capture merchant vessels for plunder and who were ceaselessly hunted by most of the world's governments, to announce their presence. A Jolly Roger would not have been aired most of the time, the ship instead posing as something more innocuous, only flying the true colors when its quarry was too close to escape. The idea was to rely on pirates' [[TheDreaded fearsome reputations]], so that the prey ship's crew would surrender without a fight, reducing bloodshed on both sides. Alternatively, for more bloodthirsty pirate groups that did not take prisoners, the brazen appearance of their flag could sap the morale of the enemy.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Parodied in the "Apple to the Core" song sequence in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E9PinkieApplePie Pinkie Apple Pie]]", where, in a scene where the Apples are dressed as pirates, their cart is flying a black flag with a shiny red apple in front of crossed femurs.

* While not pirates, submarine crews during UsefulNotes/WW2 frequently flew a Jolly Roger after returning from a successful mission, often annotating the flag with icons denoting what they'd sunk.

* ''WesternAnimation/JakeAndTheNeverlandPirates'': The three main characters are [[PiratesWhoDontDoAnything pirates]], so it is obvious that the flag will be used on several occasions trougout the show.

* ''Film/DownPeriscope'': Vice Admiral Dean Winslow tells MilitaryMaverick Lt. Commander Thomas Dodge that if he can successfully complete a war game using the USS ''Stingray'', a World War II-era diesel sub, against a modern nuclear sub, Winslow would grant Dodge command of his own sub. Winslow also tells Dodge to "think like a pirate" during the exercise. During the mission, the ''Stingray'''s RagtagBunchOfMisfits, fed up with uptight Executive Officer Marty Pascal, dress up like pirates and hoist a Jolly Roger atop the sub while it's surfaced to make Pascal "walk the plank" onto a waiting fishing trawler.

->''Never again will we fight under another's flag. We will keep on fighting only for what we believe in, under only OUR flag, as long as we live! Under MY flag!''

[[folder:Web Original]]
* WebVideo/CGPGrey discusses this in "How to be a Pirate", where he says that real pirates normally don't fly the Jolly Roger, and only unveil it after sneaking up on a merchant ship that they plan to pillage.
[[/folder]]

* College sports: The Eastern Carolina Pirates introduced a Jolly Roger secondary logo in 2005. The skull and crossbones would become the school's primary logo in 2014.