The Jolly Roger functioned as a signaling device to communicate that an attacking ship was an unconstrained outlaw pirate rather than a legally-restricted coast guard vessel, which mattered because pirates—being outlaws—could brutally retaliate against resisting merchant ships while coast guards (and privateers) were legally restrained from doing so.
causalpending
Speaker
Peter LeesonEvidence Quote
“if you're a merchant ship being attacked by a pirate ship and you resist the Pirates attack the Pirates are outlaws they can do anything they want to you... this is important for pirates because in order to cash in on the kind of greater scare factor of being a pirate then you need to somehow communicate that you're an outlaw”
Created: 6/17/2026, 10:31:31 AM
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