Skull and crossbones 429168 226138171 2008-07-17T00:05:43Z 74.10.198.105 Military Units that used a skull-and-crossbones {{Unreferenced|date=August 2007}} {{worldwide}} [[Image:Hazard T.svg|thumb|125px|right|EU standard toxic symbol, as defined by [[Directive 67/548/EEC]].]] [[Image:Flag of Edward England.svg|thumb|150px|right|The traditional "Jolly Roger" of [[Piracy]].]] {{dablink|For the pirate flag, see [[Jolly Roger]]. For the secret society, see [[Skull and Bones]]. For the Marvel Comics supervillain, see [[Crossbones (comics)|Crossbones]].}} A '''skull and crossbones''' is a [[symbol]] consisting of a human [[skull]] and two bones crossed together under the skull. Today, it is generally used as a warning of danger (usually in regard to [[poison]]ous substances). The symbol, or some variation thereof, was also featured on the [[Jolly Roger]], one of the many [[flag]] designs of [[Europe]]an and [[United States|American]] [[pirate]]s; it is thought of as the stereotypical pirate flag, although it has historically been used for other purposes as well. Traditionally, the crossbones ''behind'' the skull indicates poison, while the crossbones ''under'' the skull (the "Jolly Roger") indicates pirates or piracy. ==History of the symbol== [[Image:Cemetery Entrance.jpg|thumb|300px|right|At [[Mission Santa Barbara]], a religious outpost founded in [[California]] in 1786, stone "skull and crossbone" carvings denote the cemetery entrance.]] <!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:crucifixtotenkopf.jpg|thumb|125px|left|A crucifix with a totenkopf symbolizing Golgotha (The Place of the Skull).]] --> The original image was used by the [[Knights Templar]]. Early pirates dating back to the [[Crusades]] would thus fly the skull and bones imagery on their own mast to trick other ships into thinking they were friendly.{{Fact|date=February 2008}} Actual skulls and bones were long used to mark the entrances to [[Spain|Spanish]] cemeteries (''campo santo''). The practice, dating back many centuries, led to the symbol eventually becoming associated with the concept of [[death]]. Tombstones from the 1700's in Southern Scotland fairly frequently feature skull and crossbones. [[http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_a_l/0_around_edinburgh_-_leith_north_leith_cemetery_01777+01778_no_name.htm ]] Some [[crucifix]]es feature a skull and crossbones beneath the corpus (the depiction of [[Jesus|Jesus's]] body), in reference to a legend that the place of the crucifixion was also the burial place of [[Adam and Eve|Adam]] or, more likely, in reference to the [[New Testament]] statement (King James Version: Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, and John 19:17) that the place of his crucifixion was called "Golgotha" (tr. "the Place of a Skull"). Today, an example of a real skull and crossbones may be seen in the 1732 [[Our Lady of the Pillar|Nuestra Señora del Pilar]] church overlooking the famous [[La Recoleta Cemetery|Recoleta Cemetery]] in [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]]. It contains several altars rescued from other early Spanish churches in South America. One of these has twenty rectangular window boxes arrayed behind and above the altar, five wide by four tall. The size of these glass window boxes is such that the femurs of the priests interred thusly are a bit too long to lie flat and so must be leaned up in an "X" formation. The other bones fill in the spaces around the femurs with the skull sitting prominently on top of the bone pile centered above the "X". In 1829, [[New York State]] required the labeling of all containers of poisonous substances. The skull and crossbones symbol appears to have been used for that purpose since the 1850s. Previously a variety of motifs had been used, including the [[Denmark|Danish]] "+ + +" and drawings of [[skeleton]]s. In the 1870s poison manufacturers around the world began using bright [[Cobalt (color)|cobalt]] bottles with a variety of raised bumps and designs (to enable easy recognition in the dark) to indicate poison, but by the 1880s the skull and cross bones had become ubiquitous, and the brightly coloured bottles lost their association. The sign of Skull and Crossbones is used in [[Freemasonry]] to denote a master mason. ==Military Emblems== Variations on the symbol have been used by several military forces. The largest is on the "Jolly Roger" flags used by submarines. [[United States Marine Corps]] reconnaissance battalions also use a skull and cross bones on their emblems. [[VFA-103]], Strike Fighter Squadron 103 (the ''Jolly Rogers'') is a U.S. Navy fighter unit that was formed in the Pacific and adopted the skull and crossbones on all-black tails on their aircraft and is today perhaps the most recognizable squadron markings in the world. [[Image:FA-18 Super Hornet VFA-103.jpg|right|thumb|A US Navy (USN) F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft assigned to the "Jolly Rogers" of Strike Fighter Squadron 103 (VFA-103), prepares to launch from the flight deck of the USN Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier, 2006.]] In [[Unicode]], the "skull and crossbones" symbol is U+2620 (☠). The HTML entity is &amp;#9760;. But just like the [[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 army unit that had a black uniform and a rather large (≈10 cm) skull and crossbones on a black cap. When Hitler gained power, there were still uniforms for this type of unit, but the pattern was adapted for the [[Schutzstaffel|Nazi SS]] service, with a "peaked cap" and a tiny skull and crossbones for the cap (≈2.5 cm). And in World War II, [[Schutzstaffel|Nazi SS]] troops made use of the "[[Totenkopf]]" ([[German language|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 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 Lancers|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. [http://www.qrl.uk.com/h_home.html]. 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'. 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. ==Modern uses== <!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:Qrlcapbadge.jpg|thumb|150px|left|The cap badge of the Queen's Royal Lancers.]] --> Today, the skull and crossbones is still the only standard symbol for poison. It is, however, less common outside industrial usage than it once was. Apart from its negative marketing effect on environmentally conscious consumers, it may actually attract children due to its association with pirates, a popular toy and play theme. For this reason, in the [[United States]] there has been a proposal to replace the skull and crossbones by the "[[Mr. Yuk]]" symbol. However, Mr. Yuk and his graphic rendering are [[registered trademark]]s and [[service mark]]s of his creator, the [[Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC]], and the rendering itself is additionally protected by copyright. This means that the name and graphic image cannot be used without a license from the owner&mdash;unlike the Skull and crossbones, which is in the [[public domain]]. A variation on the design is also made by the writers of "The [[Punisher]]", a [[comic book]] made by [[Marvel Comics]].<ref>[http://www.vinyl-decals.com/prodimages/skull-punisherL.gif Variation of skull and bones by The Punisher writers]</ref> It is also used by the [[Skull and Bones Society]], a [[secret society]] at [[Yale University]], as well as the [[Kappa Sigma]], [[Sigma Phi Epsilon]], [[Sigma Sigma Sigma]] and [[Phi Kappa Sigma]] Fraternities. [[Poole Pirates]] [[Motorcycle speedway|Speedway]] Team in the [[United Kingdom]] have the Skull and Crossbones as their team badge. The logo of the [[Blackshirts (football)|Blackshirts]], the starting defensive unit for the [[Nebraska Cornhuskers football]] team, is a Skull and Crossbones with the skull wearing the team [[Football helmet|helmet]]. The players and fans often celebrate by "throwing the bones", where they cross the forearms in front of the chest, in a 'X', imitating the logo. The [[pricing game]] '''Danger Price''' on the US [[The Price Is Right]] game show used a skull-and-crossbones (and an eyepatch with a [[dollar sign]] on it) when the pricing game debuted. The skull-and-crossbones disappeared when the set was updated around 1986. ==See also== * [[Hazard symbol]] * [[Jolly Roger]] * [[Mr. Yuk]] * [[Sedlec Ossuary]] &mdash; a church made of skeletons that uses the skull and crossbones symbol at some places * [[Totenkopf]] &mdash; "death's head" insignia of many elite military units * [[Skull and Bones]] * [[Danse Macabre]] ==References== {{reflist}} # [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15702868 "Wal-Mart pulls T-shirts with Nazi skull logo"], Associated Press, Nov 14, 2006. ==External links== *[http://www.fotw.net/flags/pirates.html "Pirates"] &mdash; an overview of Pirate Flags *[http://killer-butterfly.org/crossbonesfan "Crossbones Fanlisting"] Crossbones Fanlisting *[http://www.kolahstudio.com/Underground/?p=174 "Skull Symbol"] article about the use of similar symbols around the globe [[Category:Symbols]] [[Category:Cross symbols]] [[Category:Piracy]] [[Category:Death]] [[bg:Череп и кости]] [[fr:Tête de mort]] [[lt:Kaukolė ir sukryžiuoti kaulai]] [[hu:Halálfej]] [[ja:髑髏と骨]] [[nrm:Cranne ès os crouaîsis]] [[zh:骷髏畫]]