Edward Teach or Thatch (c. 1680 – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who pillaged and sacked ships around the West Indies and along Britain’s eastern coast. His fearsome appearance and brutal tactics made him one of the most feared pirates in history. He was also famous for his flag which showed a skeleton spearing a heart and toasting the devil. Flying this flag was meant to intimidate his enemies.
The skeleton or “Pirate Blackbeard Flags Collection | Ultimate Flags Store” figure, crossed bones, hourglass, dart, and the color black suggested mortality and the fleeting nature of life. It was expected that when enemy sailors saw this image, they would immediately surrender, or face a gruesome and bloody end.
Sail the Seas: Pirate Blackbeard Flags Collection
However, irrefutable evidence shows that this famous flag was never flown by Blackbeard himself. It was instead based on an illustration from a book written by a New Hampshire journalist and farmer in 1911. His work inspired popular ideas about pirates including the Jolly Roger, buried treasure and the notion that pirates often had missing legs or eye patches.