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You are browsing the archives of 2009 June 10.

When I took my children to see the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, they all came out wanting to get pirate flags. I can’t blame them. The action and adventure in that movie was contagious. It made everyone want to be a pirate. I have always viewed the Jolly Roger as a wonderful symbol. It symbolizes recklessness in the face of danger, a devil-may-care attitude, and an adventurous spirit willing to risk everything for profit and glory. The interesting thing is that, if you look at historical pirate flags, they vary a great deal. The design of pirate party flags, the ones you see everywhere, is actually pretty typical, but each captain would put his own spin on it. Some of them had pictures of the captain drinking with Death, others had hour glasses to show the mortality of all people. Some of them had cutlasses, others crossbones, and others one of each. All of them were designed with the same goal in mind: to show enemies that the pirate meant business.