#pirate code

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The famous Pirate Code as it is often romanticised and shown in popular modern culture was a contract or code of conduct by and for pirates. Normally, each pirate ship had its own code, which laid down basic rules of conduct, disciplinary measures, rules for the distribution of booty and compensation for injured crew members. It was not a code of honour or a contract with fixed principles that applied to all pirates - rather, it was usually a kind of disciplinary law or employment contract that the crew entered into in order to be able to expect regulated procedures and guaranteed remuneration. However, there were also some generally accepted principles that were observed by many pirates. For example, no gambling on board.

The Pirata Codex in Pirates of the Caribbean (x)

Even if pirates aspired to have a free society detached from the government, rules were still needed to have an organized system on board. Even though it was often said that the captain of a ship was elected, the reality was that the more successful and strong-willed with experience became and remained captain. In order to have a certain degree of order, however, the code was drawn up, to which every crew member had to adhere.

It is not known when the rules of the code were established, but the first known code is said to have been established by the Buccaneer Bartolomeu Português in the 17th century, others are known from the 18th century.  Nine complete or nearly complete sets of pirate articles have survived to the present day, most notably from Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates, of 1724, and are therefore disputed. But records of admiralty court cases against pirates have also survived. Part of Henry Morgan's code is preserved in Alexandre Exquemelin's book The Buccaneers of America of 1678. Many other pirates are known to have had articles, including those of Irish pirate George Cusack and the late 17th century Caribbean captain Nicholas Clough. One reason that few pirate articles have survived is that pirates on the verge of capture or surrender often burned their articles or threw them overboard to prevent the papers from being used against them in court, as the navies did with their signal books to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.

Here are two of them to give you an idea of what a codex might look like.

These articles were written down by Alexander Exquemelin in his book Buccaneers of America (1678). However, the latter sailed as Henry Morgan's (1635 –1688) physician, so it is very likely that these articles were very similar to Henry Morgan's actual articles. Exquemelin writes that the buccaneers chose to:

"Agree on certain articles, which are put in writing, by way of bond or obligation, which every one is bound to observe, and all of them, or the chief, set their hands to it."

The rest of the articles themselves were as follows.

1. The fund of all payments under the articles is the stock of what is gotten by the expedition, following the same law as other pirates, that is, No prey, no pay.

2. Compensation is provided the Captain for the use of his ship, and the salary of the carpenter, or shipwright, who mended, careened, and rigged the vessel (the latter usually about 150 pieces of eight). A sum for provisions and victuals is specified, usually 200 pieces of eight. A salary and compensation is specified for the surgeon and his medicine chest, usually 250 pieces of eight.

3. A standard compensation is provided for maimed and mutilated buccaneers. "Thus they order for the loss of a right arm six hundred pieces of eight, or six slaves ; for the loss of a left arm five hundred pieces of eight, or five slaves ; for a right leg five hundred pieces of eight, or five slaves ; for the left leg four hundred pieces of eight, or four slaves ; for an eye one hundred pieces of eight, or one slave ; for a finger of the hand the same reward as for the eye.

4. Shares of booty are provided as follows: "the Captain, or chief Commander, is allotted five or six portions to what the ordinary seamen have ; the Master's Mate only two ; and Officers proportionate to their employment. After whom they draw equal parts from the highest even to the lowest mariner, the boys not being omitted. For even these draw half a share, by reason that, when they happen to take a better vessel than their own, it is the duty of the boys to set fire to the ship or boat wherein they are, and then retire to the prize which they have taken."

5. "[I]n the prizes they take, it is severely prohibited to every one to usurp anything, in particular to themselves. . . . Yea, they make a solemn oath to each other not to abscond, or conceal the least thing they find amongst the prey. If afterwards any one is found unfaithful, who has contravened the said oath, immediately he is separated and turned out of the society."

The following is an example of a Pirate Code put forth by Captain Bartholomew Roberts (1682-1722). Black Bart’s code is given because he is probably one of the most successful pirates, capturing over 400 ships in a 3 year span of time. This code most likely enabled many of his successes by keeping everything fair and avoiding mutiny and problems with the crew.

I. Every man shall have an equal vote in affairs of moment. He shall have an equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized.

II. Every man shall be called fairly in turn by the list on board of prizes. But if they defraud the company to the value of even one dollar, they shall be marooned. If any man robs another, he shall have his nose and ears slit and be put ashore where he shall be sure to encounter hardships.

III. None shall game for money either with dice or cards.

IV. The lights and candles shall be put out at eight at night and if any of the crew desire to drink after that hour, they shall sit upon the open deck without lights.

V. Each man shall keep his piece, cutlass, and pistols at all times clean and ready for action.

VI. No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man shall be found seducing any of the latter sex and carrying her to sea in disguise he shall suffer death.

VII. He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.

VIII. None shall strike another on board the ship, but every man's quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol.

IX. No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living till each has a share of 1,000. Every man who shall become a cripple or lose a limb in the service shall have 800 pieces of eight from the common stock and for lesser hurts proportionately.

X. The captain and quartermaster shall each receive two shares of a prize, the master gunner and boatswain, one and one half shares, all other officers one and one quarter, and private gentlemen of fortune one share each.

XI. The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day.

Incidentally, the practice of parley as we see it in Pirates of the Caribbean has not actually been passed down among pirates, but the term was actually used to denote official negotiations between state belligerents.

THE PIRATES CODE

 Every crew member shall have an equal vote in all affairs of moment. The Captain would have equal footing in all said discussions and never be held above the current topic as 'out of reach'. The captain can not ney a vote purely based on their own transgressions.

 Crew that shall desert the ship or their quarters in the time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.

 None shall strike another on board the ship, but every crew mate's quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol in this manner: at the word of command from the quartermaster, the quarrelling individuals shall be placed back to back and shall turn and fire immediately. If they do not, the quartermaster shall knock the piece out of their hand. If both miss their aim, they shall take to their cutlasses, and the one that draws first blood shall be declared the victor.

 Crew are prohibited gambling for money with dice or cards. Gambling could lead to disagreements and disputes among the crew, which could undermine the unity and cohesion of the crew.

 Stealing from a fellow crew member is a one way ticket to Davey Jones' Locker.

 Aboard the ship crew hold specific shares of the loot for different crew members, but any crew member who felt they were not receiving a fair share could appeal to the crew for a reconsideration of the distribution.

 Captains provide provisions for the protection of crew members who were injured or disabled in the line of duty, crew who did not follow this rule had their ears slit for disobeying/harassing of said crew.

 Befriend others wisely, even other fellow pirates but shall be loyal to thy fellow crew members. Knowingly targeting and sinking other pirate ships is strictly forbidden.

That no crew member shall give, or dispose of, the ship's provisions; but every one shall have an equal share.

 Whoever first spotted a treasure-laden ship could choose the best pistol for themselves.

 Trading for products fair and square means the seller can do as they like, including resell at profit.

 Killing of a surrendered enemy or prisoner is not allowed.

Above is probably one of the most recognizable historical Jolly Rogers! Ironically, this was the flag of “Calico” Jack Rakham, who was one of the least successful pirates of his time. He was the lover of the wicked pirate duo, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, but was the only one of the three to be tried and executed for piracy. Anne and Mary eluded prosecution by each getting pregnant, which disqualified them from being executed, and the two later escaped capture and what became of them is still unknown or based upon little more than legend.

We commonly associate the skull-and-crossbones, aka “The Jolly Roger” as the universal flag that means “pirate”, but did you guys know that pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy (approx. 1650~1700-1720) and onward had elaborate codes predating the use of traditional flag languages like Semaphore? Blackbeard himself didn’t actually fly the skull and crossbones above his own ship!

The first iteration of what we recognize as the Jolly Roger flag was first documented as being flown by French pirate, Emmanuel Wynn, around 1700. His flag would become dubbed “The Jolly Roger”, an anglicized bastardization of the French, “joli rouge”, or “pretty red”, as the original pirate flags ever used were actually dark red or blood red in color. Here’s what Emmanuel patented:

In Captain Wynn’s flag, he’s departed from the traditional crimson to funerary black. The hourglass below the skull symbolically represented to his targets and enemies, “Your time is running out.” Wynn’s flag, however, was not the first pirate flag to be dubbed, “The Jolly Roger” or “Joli Rouge”. The first ever flag to be universally symbolic of pirates was the flag flown by former pirate companions, Francis Spriggs and Edward Low:

Edward Low is, in fact, credited for the creation of the red skeleton on the black flag that went on to become recognized as the first Jolly Roger, but after a falling out with Francis Spriggs, Spriggs was the one to go on to be most associated with the symbol. Art theft is a bitch, even to pirates.

So what about Blackbeard?

The most closely associated flag with Blackbeard (aka Edward Teach), looks like this:

However, sources behind this being Blackbeard’s flag are highly spurious, and the only remotely accepted contemporary writing about Blackbeard, “A General History of the Pyrates,” not only gets a lot of scrutiny from historians to this day as to its accuracy since it was published long after Blackbeard’s death, but also illuminates that Blackbeard wasn’t really known to fly a particular flag above his flagship, “The Queen Anne’s Revenge”. Considering how startlingly clever, intelligent, and notorious he was, he may never have had a particular flag he’d fly routinely because it only made it easier for pirate hunters to track him, and a lot of Blackbeard’s tactics involved shock and awe. Especially toward the end of his career and life, Blackbeard was the most wanted man in the entire Western world, and so it doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense that a guy like Blackbeard would have the equivalent of a maritime bumper sticker fluttering in the breeze that gave his identity away, especially when he didn’t want any witnesses or survivors reporting to the naval authorities they’d seen his ship at all.

Without motors or oarsmen, pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy had to rely heavily upon weather, anonymity, and stealth as they closed the distance on a potential ship to raid, and had to be certain that they would be able to catch up to the ship they were attacking before identifying themselves as pirates. It usually wasn’t until the absolute last second before making contact that a pirate captain would raise their own Jolly Roger and reveal that they were, in fact, pirates. A common tactic to get a target ship to even slow down would be to fly a matching flag to pretend to be a friendly ship or a ship in distress, and then quickly change the flag to the captain’s when it was too late for the other ship to escape. This would help shock the sailors and passengers into willingly parting with what most pirates really wanted: Money. Aside from psychopathic sadists like Charles Vane, most pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy didn’t want to kill anybody if they could avoid it.

Per the code set down by the legendary Benjamin Hornigold, “good” pirates avoided bloodshed as much as possible in favor of shows of non-lethal strength and intimidation. Hornigold even had very strict rules about the treatment of women (probably because he reportedly had a fling with notorious female pirate captain Anne Bonny, who had a habit of stabbing misogynists). Hornigold is the original author behind the Pirate Guidelines frequently discussed and used in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.

A lot of their tactics were more psychological than genuinely violent. Black Sam Bellamy, an admirer of Hornigold’s, was most infamous for 1) Freeing captured slaves and taking them on as fellow pirates with equal wages to their white and POC shipmates, and 2) having everyone onboard strip ass-naked to shock the passengers aboard a ship so much that they could climb aboard their ship before they could really figure out how to react. If the captain of the victim ship agreed to surrender their goods and valuables to the pirates without a fight, then it was considered proper by pirates to leave the ship’s passengers and sailors unharmed, offer to recruit anyone who wanted to join (Black Sam even recruited a 10-year-old boy who begged his mother to let him join Sam’s crew), free any African slaves discovered on board (this one was shaky because racism), and kill only in self-defense as a last resort.

There were of course the psychopathic and sadistic pirates, as any illegal trade will attract, but during the Golden Age of Piracy, a lot of pirates were only pirates out of necessity and didn’t want anything to do with genuinely hurting people. Many pirates would refuse to plunder ships from their home countries and pursue ships flying the flags of their nation’s historical enemies. After the War of Spanish Succession, which bankrupted the British empire in particular, a lot of sailors who had been press-ganged (unwillingly recruited) into the navy were suddenly fired and cut off from an income or even a ride back to their home country, leaving them marooned wherever they happened to be when the war ended. Many of these pirates had no sailing or naval experience whatsoever before the War of Spanish Succession, and were mostly farmers, jobless, or low-level tradesmen effectively kidnapped by order of the King. The captains responsible for them were often brutal and ruthless, leaving them traumatized and terrified of serving aboard a royal ship again. With nothing but their skills as sailors to survive with, pirates were often forced to rob and steal from other ships just to stay alive and, for a lucky few, go back home.

Because pirates were so often put off by violence and bloodshed, they relied upon aggressive symbols and threats to intimidate their target into submission before they even got into range of each other’s cannons. Pirates in general also really did not like maritime warfare, because cannons mean damage to the ship, and repairs were another expense pirates didn’t like dealing with. A pirate captain only stayed captain by vote of the crew, and if you weren’t good at keeping the ship or crew safe and successful, you could be replaced and even marooned on the next nearest body of land or, in Charles Vane’s case, in a dinghy to die (his crew really hated him a lot and he definitely deserved it).

Adopting clear symbols for their individual flags not only warned the other ship of what they were prepared to do to hopefully get the ship to just give up without a fight so nobody got unnecessarily hurt. These symbols also identified other pirate captains to each other. Here are some of the spoopy signals pirates would put on their flags:

-The Hourglass: Time is running out.

-The Sword Arm: We are highly violent, know how to fight, and will kill if necessary.

-The Spear: A violent death is awaiting you if we catch you and you don’t surrender without a fight. We may probably kill you, or at least a few of you, anyway.

-The Bleeding Heart: A slow, painful death is awaiting you.

-The Horned Skeleton/Devil: Torture and inevitable death.

-The Red Flag: Mercilessness and unwillingness to negotiate.

-The Naked Man: We have no shame.

-The Drinking Glass: Toasting death/Satan as an inevitability.

-The Sailor/Pirate: The captain of the fleet is onboard or nearby.