How the pirate flag emoji is built
The pirate flag isn’t a single character. It is three emoji pieces glued together: the black flag 🏴 (U+1F3F4), an invisible zero width joiner (U+200D), and skull and crossbones ☠️ (U+2620 plus the emoji style marker U+FE0F). Phones that know the combination merge them into one Jolly Roger. Ones that don’t show the two pieces side by side, 🏴☠️, which still gets the point across.
It arrived in Emoji 11.0 in 2018, so most phones made since then show it as one flag. Some older keyboards produce a version without the U+FE0F marker. It usually still works, but the copy button here always gives you the fully qualified version that Unicode recommends.
A short history of the Jolly Roger
Pirates of the early 1700s, the so-called Golden Age of Piracy, flew black flags decorated with skulls, bones, hourglasses or weapons. The point was intimidation: a merchant ship that saw one was meant to give up without a fight. Each captain had his own design, and the plain skull-and-crossbones version became the classic one in books and films. Nobody knows for sure where the name “Jolly Roger” comes from. One popular theory is the French joli rouge (“pretty red”), but it is unproven.
The flag still flies today. Royal Navy submarines have hoisted a Jolly Roger when returning from a successful combat patrol since the First World War. Sports teams, video games and the hugely popular anime One Piece keep it in everyday use too, and the Straw Hat crew’s smiling skull is one of the most-shared pirate symbols online.
Ways people use 🏴☠️ in messages
- Talk Like a Pirate Day (19 September) and pirate-themed birthday parties.
- Gaming: Sea of Thieves crews, raids and “we’re taking over” moments.
- Bold or rebellious: a playful way to say you’re going your own way.
- One Piece fans: new episodes, chapter drops and cosplay posts.
Shortcodes and keyboard tips
On Discord, Slack and GitHub, type :pirate_flag:. On an iPhone or Android phone, search “pirate” in the emoji keyboard. On Windows, press Win + . and search “pirate”. If your version doesn’t list it, or an app splits it into two pieces, paste it from this page instead.
Pirate flag emoji codes
| Unicode name | pirate flag |
| Code points (4) | U+1F3F4 U+200D U+2620 U+FE0F |
| Emoji version | Emoji 11.0 (2018) |
| HTML hex | 🏴‍☠️ |
| HTML decimal | 🏴‍☠️ |
| UTF-8 bytes (13) | F0 9F 8F B4 E2 80 8D E2 98 A0 EF B8 8F |
| URL encoded | %F0%9F%8F%B4%E2%80%8D%E2%98%A0%EF%B8%8F |
| JavaScript (ES6) | \u{1F3F4}\u{200D}\u{2620}\u{FE0F} |
| JSON / Java / C# (UTF-16, 5 units) | \uD83C\uDFF4\u200D\u2620\uFE0F |
| Python | \U0001F3F4\u200D\u2620\uFE0F |
| CSS content | "\1F3F4 \200D \2620 \FE0F" |
| Shortcodes | :pirate_flag: (Discord, Slack, GitHub) |
Pirate flag emoji FAQ
When was the pirate flag emoji added?
The pirate flag 🏴☠️ was added in Emoji 11.0 in 2018. Phones and computers from before then show it as a black flag next to a skull and crossbones: 🏴☠️.
Why does my pirate flag show as two emoji?
Because it is made of a black flag, an invisible joiner and a skull and crossbones. If your device doesn’t support the combined emoji, it shows the parts separately. The person you send it to will still see one pirate flag if their phone is newer.
What is the shortcode for the pirate flag emoji?
Type :pirate_flag: on Discord, Slack or GitHub. In Unicode it is U+1F3F4 U+200D U+2620 U+FE0F.
What does the 🏴☠️ emoji mean?
It stands for pirates and the Jolly Roger: adventure, rebellion, pirate parties, Talk Like a Pirate Day on 19 September, games like Sea of Thieves, or the anime One Piece.
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