Skull and crossbones ( military ) Variations on the skull and crossbones have been used by several military forces . The largest is on the " Jolly Roger " flags used by submarines . Usage . Naval warfare . The Jolly Roger is the name given to any of various flags flown to identify a ship ' s crew as pirates . Since the decline of piracy , various military units have used the Jolly Roger , usually in skull - and - crossbones design , as a unit identification insignia or a victory flag to ascribe to themselves the proverbial ferocity and toughness of pirates . Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson VC , the Controller of the Royal Navy , summed up the opinion of the many in the Admiralty at the time when in 1901 he said submarines were " underhand , unfair , and damned un - English . . . . treat all submarines as pirates in wartime . . . and hang all crews . " In response , Lieutenant Commander ( later Admiral Sir ) Max Horton first flew the Jolly Roger on return to port after sinking the German cruiser SMS " Hela " and the destroyer SMS " S - 116 " in 1914 while in command of the E class submarine HMS " E9 " . In World War II it became common practice for the submarines of the Royal Navy to fly the Jolly Roger on completion of a successful combat mission where some action had taken place , but as an indicator of bravado and stealth rather than of lawlessness . The Jolly Roger is now the emblem of the Royal Navy Submarine Service . Three distinct U . S . Naval Aviation squadrons have used the name and insignia of the Jolly Roger : " VF - 61 " ( originally VF - 17 ) , " VF - 84 " , and " VFA - 103 " . While these are distinctly different squadrons that have no lineal linkage , they all share the same " Jolly Roger " name , the skull and crossbones insignia and traditions . The first incarnation of the " Jolly Rogers " was established on January 1 , 1943 at NAS Norfolk , as VF - 17 , flying the F4U Corsair . Inspired by the piratical theme of the aircraft ' s name , VF - 17 ' s commanding officer Tommy Blackburn selected the Jolly Roger as the squadron ' s insignia . The current squadron to hold the name is the VFA - 103 , Strike Fighter Squadron 103 ( the " Jolly Rogers " ) , the skull and crossbones on all - black tails makes them easily identifiable . United States Marine Corps reconnaissance battalions also use a skull and cross bones on their emblems . Land warfare . Hussar s , lancer s and dragoon s became established types of military units , with their typical uniform patterns ( and weapons and tactics ) maintained in many armies ( though in different colors ) , there once was a type of armthat had a black uniform and a rather large ( ≈10 cm ) skull and crossbones on a black cay unit . In Chile , during the independence battles , a paramilitary guerrilla group against the royal Spanish army composed mainly by bandits and civilians , called " Los húsares de la muerte ( " The Death Hussars " ) wore a Skull with two crossed femurs on the neck of their jackets . In the Estonian War of Independence the skull and crossbones were symbols of Kuperjanov ' s Partisan Battalion . The badge is still used in the Estonian Army by the Kuperjanov Battalion , for example 2007 in Iraq . Though not employing a black uniform , the skull and crossbones has been used by a succession of lancer regiments in the British Army . The Queen ' s Royal Lancers continue to use the skull and crossbones in their emblem , inherited from its use by the 17th Light Dragoons - a unit raised in 1759 following General Wolfe ' s death at Quebec , with an emblem of a death ' s head and the words ' Or Glory ' in commemoration of him . The cap badge was later used by the 17th / 21st Lancers and its present - day successor , the Queen ' s Royal Lancers who are still nicknamed the ' Death or Glory Boys ' . During the Russian Civil War , the troops of Nestor Makhno bore a skull and crossbones on their flag with the words " Freedom or Death , " while the troops of the White Kornilov Division wore patches emblazoned with a skull and crossbones above a pair of crossed swords . When Hitler gained power , there were still uniforms that were black and with a rather large ( ≈10 cm ) skull and crossbones on a black cap , but the pattern was adapted for the Nazi SS service , with a " peaked cap " and a tiny skull and crossbones for the cap ( ≈2 . 5 cm ) . And in World War II , Nazi SS troops made use of the " Totenkopf " ( German word for " dead man ' s head " ) as an insignia for another part of the uniform as well ( in particular , the 3rd SS Division , which was a part of the larger Waffen SS ) , and also by the similarly named World War II - era Luftwaffe ' s 54th Bomber Wing ( " Kampfgeschwader 54 " ) . In the former Yugoslavia , and especially Serbia , the skull and crossbones was a prominent symbol used by the Serbian royalist and nationalist paramilitaries known as the Chetniks during the Second World War and the Yugoslav Wars . Aerial warfare . Fighter aircraft of both the Allied Powers and the Central Powers occasionally made use of the a Skull and crossbones emblem in World War I , either by itself or as part of a more complex insignia , more often by individual pilots , and in rare instances , by entire aviation units . The most memorable of these usages could be considered to be on the series of French fighter aircraft flown by French 43 - victory flying ace Charles Nungesser , as all of his aircraft , both during and following World War I featured his personal " black heart " insignia on the sides of the aircraft ' s fuselage , centered on a Skull and crossbones emblem , accompanied with a coffin directly above the skull , and flanked with single candlesticks to either side of the emblem , all within the black heart - shaped field . He earned the nickname " Hussard de la mort " ( " Horseman of Death " ) when as a cavalry man in the first days of the war , he captured a Mors ( a luxury car ) carrying four German Staff officers with operation plans References . – The Skull and Cross Bones was originally the maritime battle flag of the Knights Templer . ( Knight , Christopher and Robert Lomas , The Hiram Key et al . , Arrow Books , London , 1997 . )