Why did PIRATES fly a flag ANNOUNCING they were PIRATES?

Every other criminal in history tried hard NOT to get caught. Pirates raised a giant flag announcing the robbery before it started — and it was the smartest move they ever made. The Jolly Roger wasn't bravado. It was terror marketing: a deal stitched into cloth. Surrender the moment the black flag went up and you lived; resist and the red flag came out — no quarter. Most ships handed everything over without a single shot fired. We get into why a fair fight was a pirate's worst nightmare, the custom "logo" flags each captain flew (including the famous one on every Blackbeard t-shirt that no record from his lifetime actually describes), and how the flag that made them rich became the confession that hanged them. All from the real history — trial records, not the movies. New pirate stories every week. #pirates #history #goldenageofpiracy #jollyroger #maritimehistory