ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 944
http://www.s-gabriel.org/944
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* NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports     *
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From: 
5 Jun 1998

Greetings,

Here's what we can say about your arms, which would be blazoned as
"Sable, a jawless skull argent."  We've included some information
about piracy in general.
 
Pirates have existed in all periods, but since you are thinking of
the Jolly Roger we're going to talk about pirates in the Elizabethan
period (the late 16th century).
 
For that period, it's entirely possible for a pirate to have a coat of
arms.  It was a common practice for a ruler to give a private shipowner
a "letter of marque" that authorized him to raid the commerce of other
countries.  Some of these shipowners, called "privateers," rose to a
fairly high rank--and when they were unable to get a letter of marque,
many of them were not above engaging in unauthorized raiding--piracy--
as well. (1) However, the coats of arms that these people had were not
connected with the "Jolly Roger."  In fact, we're not even sure that
the "Jolly Roger" was used in period; it may not have been invented
until after 1600.  Privateering was an acceptable profession for 
gentlemen (that is, people with the right to bear arms), and there are
numerous examples of privateers (and pirates) who had arms.

That said, there is no reason that a pirate would have arms that have
any connection with the Jolly Roger.  First off, we're not even sure 
that the Jolly Roger is period.  Secondly, a person who acquired arms
through piracy would not be likely to connect his arms (which are
his personal property) with a symbol in general use.  A pirate would
be no more likely to use skulls in his arms than anyone else.

However, we did check the arms you suggested.  They conflict with
the Jolly Roger, which is protected by the SCA.  However, you could
use the arms "Sable, three skulls argent" (which would have two skulls
at the top of the shield and one below).  In period art, skulls seem
to have been shown both with jaws and without, and no particular
distinction seems to have been made between them; a blazon of "a
skull" would allow you to draw them either way as the whim took you. (2)
 
We also looked at other ideas based on your suggestions, since
they would be equally appropriate for your persona--you mentioned that
you were also thinking of using daggers, rapiers, or snakes.  Daggers
and rapiers are very common in the SCA, but very rare in period
heraldry, so we avoided them.  The simplest snake design that we
couldn't find a conflict for is "Sable, a snake glissant in bend argent."
(This is a snake drawn in a wavy way, as though it's gliding through the 
grass.  It is diagonal and its head is in the upper left of the shield.)
 
We can also suggest "Sable, a whale argent."  Whales were drawn in a
very distinctive way in medieval and Renaissance art: They had
boar-like heads with tusks, bear-like forelimbs and two short tubes
sticking out of their heads, which represented spouts.

Arval Benicoeur, Walraven van Nijmege, Aryanhwy Prytydes verch Catmael
Caermyrdin, Alison Macdermot, Talan Gwynek, Modar Neznanich, Teceangl
Bach, Rouland Carre, Miguel Santos de Borja, and Daniel de Lincoln
contributed to this letter.
 
We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.
 
In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel
 
(1) Britannica Online, "Piracy" (accessed 4/21/98).

(2) See for example _Descent from the Cross_ by van der Weyden or _Death, the
Knight, and the Devil_ by Du:rer. (found in the _Encyclopedia of World Art_
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967), 4:297 and 14:413).