Emoji dictionary
🏴☠️ Pirate Flag emoji
[ pahy-ruht flag ih-moh-jee ]
What does 🏴☠️ Pirate Flag emoji mean?
The Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ displays a Jolly Roger, a black flag with a skull and crossbones used by pirates. It is commonly used to refer to pirates and sports teams named after pirates. This emoji is sometimes used in reference to illegally downloading content, known as pirating.
The Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ was especially used in the context of the Florida NFL football team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won the NFC Championship and are playing in Super Bowl LV on February 7, 2021.
Where does 🏴☠️ Pirate Flag emoji come from?
The Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ was approved under Unicode 11.0 in 2018. The emoji combines the Black Flag emoji 🏴 with the Skull and Crossbones emoji ☠️ (which is why this emoji may display as a sequence of those two emoji on devices that don’t support it as a single emoji). On all major platforms, the Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ takes the form of a flag depicting a white skull and crossbones on a black field. Apple and Microsoft depict the flag on a flagpole.
Many sports teams are named after pirates (or buccaneers, raiders, etc.), and the Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ is widely used by their fans and sports outlets on social media. The Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ is also occasionally used when a person references the act of illegally downloading content off of the Internet, called pirating (a metaphorical extension of the original term). This use of the emoji is not too widespread because discussing illegal activity generally violates a website’s terms of service.
Examples of 🏴☠️ Pirate Flag emoji
Who uses 🏴☠️ Pirate Flag emoji?
The Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ is used to discuss infamous (and sometimes beloved) swashbucklers from history and fictional pirate characters in popular culture. Often appearing in conjunction with the Skull and Crossbones emoji ☠️, the emoji is used all over the seven, digital seas to reference pirates, especially on Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19).
Avast, ye landlubbers!! Hoist the mizzen mast! Give me a clap o'thunder!! And set sail for the coffer that holds me doubloons. Or it's off to Davey's locker ya go, with no parlay! Savvy? Arrrgh!! 🏴☠️ #TalkLikeAPirateDay
— Fred Alan (@fredalan) September 19, 2019
I always hear the word "savvy" in Captain Jack Sparrow's voice when I read it. Am I the only one? 😆🏴☠️
— Paige (@AquariusPaige) September 27, 2017
As noted above, the Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ is also used in sports to refer to the many teams named after pirates, such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A buccaneer is a type of pirate.
In early 2021, the Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ saw increased usage thanks to the success of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team. The Buccaneers won the NFC Championship Game and so qualified to play Super Bowl LV on February 7, 2021, which is being played in their own stadium. The Buccaneers were the first team to ever play a Super Bowl in their home stadium and fans used the Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ to show support to the team.
I'm literally still in shock that my… BUCS ARE IN THE FREAKING SUPER BOWL!!
😤🏴☠️🔥— Jort Warrior🐊 (@MarksGatas) January 26, 2021
1️⃣1️⃣9️⃣-7️⃣6️⃣ win for Pirates Basketball tonight over Central Methodist JV. 🏴☠️🏀💪
— NCMC Athletics (@NCMCAthletics) December 6, 2019
The Pirate Flag emoji 🏴☠️ is very occasionally used to refer to illegal downloading … usually in an oblique manner.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of 🏴☠️ Pirate Flag emoji like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of 🏴☠️ Pirate Flag emoji that will help our users expand their word mastery.