Jolly Roger: the oldest pirate flag
First at the National Museum of the Navy in Portsmouth exhibited rare flag , known as the Jolly Roger , captured off the coast of Africa in 1780.
When this flag was found on it were small traces of gunpowder and bullet holes with charred edges . In 2007, the flag was restored in Winchester textile conservation center art .
Flag looks exactly like three years ago. Exactly the same flags are used by some modern pirates in Somalia , the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean.
First , this type of flag was used by pirates around 1700 and quickly became popular . It is believed that first used the red until pirates began to invent other styles , including more familiar version with a black background .
Richard Noyce , curator of the artifacts in the museum, said : « Pirates always attract a lot of interest , partly because of the many Hollywood movies about them.
However, in reality they were not so attractive villains as often portrayed in literature and cinema .
And then, as now , the pirates are seen as a threat to trade and make more efforts to suppress their criminal activities ».
During the heyday of piracy teams often use their own flags , such as the skull and crossbones , crossed swords or a complete skeleton .
Name Jolly Roger (born Jolly Roger), is believed to be derived from the French phrase «Joli Rouge», which means " beautiful red color ."
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