Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the flags flown to identify a pirate ship about to attack during the early 18th century (i.e. the later part of the "Golden Age of Piracy").
The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly Roger today, the skulland crossbones symbol on a black flag, was used during the 1710s by a number of pirate captains including "Black Sam" Bellamy, Edward England, and John Taylor and it went on to become the most commonly used pirate flag during the 1720s.
The first recorded uses of the skull-and-crossbones symbol on naval flags date to the 17th century. It possibly originated among the Barbary pirates of the period, which would connect the black colour of the Jolly Roger to the Muslim black flag. But an early reference to Muslim corsairs flying a skull symbol, in the context of a 1625slave raid on Cornwall, explicitly refers to the symbol being shown on a green flag
Pirates did not fly the Jolly Roger at all times. Like other vessels, pirate ships usually stocked a variety of different flags, and would normally fly false colors or no colors until they had their prey within firing range
When the pirates' intended victim was within range, the Jolly Roger would be raised, often simultaneously with a warning shot.
The early development team of the Apple Macintosh used a pirate flag to maintain a "rebellious" spirit
