Skull and crossbones

Last updated
☠🕱
Skull and crossbones
In  Unicode U+2620SKULL AND CROSSBONES
U+1F571🕱BLACK SKULL AND CROSSBONES
Related
See alsoU+2623 BIOHAZARD SIGN
U+2622 RADIOACTIVE SIGN

A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under or behind the skull. [1] The design originated in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a memento mori on tombstones.

Contents

In modern contexts, it is generally used as a hazard symbol, usually in regard to poisonous substances, such as deadly chemicals. [1]

It is also associated with piracy and software piracy, due to its historical use in some Jolly Roger flags.

Military use

The skull and bones are often used in military insignia, such as the coats of arms of regiments. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Since the mid-18th century, skull and crossbones insignia has been officially used in European armies as symbols of superiority. One of the first regiments was the Frederick the Great's Hussars in 1741, also known as the "Totenkopfhusaren". From this tradition, the skull became an important emblem in the German army. Identical insignia has been used in the Prussian army after the First World War by Freikorps and in Nazi Germany by the Wehrmacht and the SS. The idea of elitism symbolized by the skull and crossbones has influenced sub- and pop culture and has become part of the fashion industry. [7]

Symbol for poisonous substances

GHS-pictogram-skull.svg
The international pictogram for poisonous substances.
Hazard T.svg
EU standard toxic symbol, as defined by Dangerous Substances Directive (67/548/EEC)

The skull and crossbones has long been a standard symbol for poison.

In 1829, New York State required the labeling of all containers of poisonous substances. [8] 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 Danish "+ + +" and drawings of skeletons. [9]

In the 1870s poison manufacturers around the world began using bright cobalt bottles with a variety of raised bumps and designs (to enable easy recognition in the dark) to indicate poison, [10] but by the 1880s the skull and cross bones had become ubiquitous, and the brightly coloured bottles lost their association. [11]

In the United States, due to concerns that the skull-and-crossbones symbol's association with pirates might encourage children to play with toxic materials, the Mr. Yuk symbol was created to denote poison. However, in 2001, the American Association of Poison Control Center voted to continue to require the skull and crossbones symbol. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jolly Roger</span> Pirate flag

Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the naval ensign flown to identify a pirate ship preceding or during an attack, during the early 18th century. The vast majority of such flags flew the motif of a human skull, or “Death's Head”, often accompanied by other elements, on a black, dark brown or dark blue field, sometimes called the “Death's Head flag” or just the “black flag”.

Symbols of death are the motifs, images and concepts associated with death throughout different cultures, religions and societies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mr. Yuk</span> Label that indicates poisonous material

Mr. Yuk is a trademarked graphic image, created by UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and widely employed in the United States in labeling of substances that are poisonous if ingested.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazard symbol</span> Warning symbol on locations or products

Hazard symbols or warning symbols are recognisable symbols designed to warn about hazardous or dangerous materials, locations, or objects, including electromagnetic fields, electric currents; harsh, toxic or unstable chemicals ; and radioactivity. The use of hazard symbols is often regulated by law and directed by standards organizations. Hazard symbols may appear with different colors, backgrounds, borders, and supplemental information in order to specify the type of hazard and the level of threat. Warning symbols are used in many places in place of or in addition to written warnings as they are quickly recognized and more universally understood, as the same symbol can be recognized as having the same meaning to speakers of different languages.

<i>Totenkopf</i> German symbol for skull and crossbones

Totenkopf is the German word for skull. The word is often used to denote a figurative, graphic or sculptural symbol, common in Western culture, consisting of the representation of a human skull- usually frontal, more rarely in profile with or without the mandible. In some cases, other human skeletal parts may be added, often including two crossed long bones (femurs) depicted below or behind the skull. The human skull is an internationally used symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as well as piracy or toxicity.

Uniforms and insignia of the <i>Schutzstaffel</i>

The uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel (SS) served to distinguish its Nazi paramilitary ranks between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the Wehrmacht, the German state, and the Nazi Party.

SS-Verfügungstruppe was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). On 17 August 1938 Adolf Hitler decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the Ordnungspolizei nor the Wehrmacht, but military-trained men at the disposal of the Führer. In time of war, the SS-VT were to be placed at the disposal of the army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf</span> German armored division

The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, Totenkopf, is German for "death's head" – the skull and crossbones symbol – and it is thus sometimes referred to as the Death's Head Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazi symbolism</span> Symbols used by Nazis and neo-Nazis

The 20th-century German Nazi Party made extensive use of graphic symbols, especially the swastika, notably in the form of the swastika flag, which became the co-national flag of Nazi Germany in 1933, and the sole national flag in 1935. A very similar flag had represented the Party beginning in 1920.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toxicity class</span> Pesticide classification system

Toxicity class refers to a classification system for pesticides that has been created by a national or international government-related or -sponsored organization. It addresses the acute toxicity of agents such as soil fumigants, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, miticides, molluscicides, nematicides, or rodenticides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emanuel Wynn</span> 17th-century French pirate

Emanuel Wynn was a French pirate of the 17th century who is often considered the first pirate to fly the Jolly Roger.

Death's Head, death's head or death's-head may refer to:

Bottles is a 1936 Happy Harmonies animated cartoon directed by Hugh Harman and produced by Rudolf Ising for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio.

The skull and crossbones is a symbol of a human skull with two long bones crossed below it. It was historically used on the Jolly Roger pirate flag, and sees modern-day usage as a warning against poison or other deadly hazards.

Skull and crossbones variations have been used by several military forces. The "Jolly Roger", traditionally used by pirates, has been used by submarines.

The skull and crossbones was a common fraternal motif as a symbol of mortality and warning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The symbol was adopted, for various reasons, by many sporting teams, clubs, and societies in both America and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skull and crossbones (Spanish cemetery)</span> Cemetery ornament

Actual skulls and bones were long used to mark the entrances to Spanish cemeteries. The practice, dating back many centuries, led to the symbol eventually becoming associated with the concept of death. Some crucifixes feature a skull and crossbones beneath the corpus, in reference to a legend that the place of the crucifixion was also the burial place of Adam or, more likely, in reference to the New Testament statement that the place of his crucifixion was called "Golgotha".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranks and insignia of the German Army (1935–1945)</span> Military insignia

The Heer as the German army and part of the Wehrmacht inherited its uniforms and rank structure from the Reichsheer of the Weimar Republic (1921–1935). There were few alterations and adjustments made as the army grew from a limited peacetime defense force of 100,000 men to a war-fighting force of several million men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human skull symbolism</span> Attachment of symbolic meaning

Skull symbolism is the attachment of symbolic meaning to the human skull. The most common symbolic use of the skull is as a representation of death.

References

  1. 1 2 "Dictionary and Thesaurus". Merriam-webster.com.
  2. "WEARING THE SKULL AND CROSSBONES WITH PRIDE".|website=The British Army}}
  3. Thomas, Nigel (2012). The German Army in World War I (1): 1914–15. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   9781780965512.
  4. Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal, Volumen 32. National Library of the Netherlands. 1867. p. 321.
  5. Hølscher, Joost (2013). Death's Head - Volumen 1 de The History of Uniform. Editions Chamerelle. p. 33. ISBN   9789082032604.
  6. Joost Hølscher (Author, Illustrator): Death's Head, The History of the Military Skull & Crossbones Badge (The History of Uniform). 1st edition: Éditions Chamerelle 2013, ISBN   978-90-820326-0-4.
  7. Ruda, Adrian (2023). Der Totenkopf als Motiv. Eine historisch-kulturanthropologische Analyse zwischen Militär und Moden[The skull as a motif. A historical-cultural anthropological analysis between military and fashion] (in German). Böhlau/Brill. ISBN   9783412528904.
  8. Griffenhagen, George B.; Bogard, Mary (19 November 1999). History of Drug Containers and Their Labels. Amer. Inst. History of Pharmacy. ISBN   9780931292262 . Retrieved 19 November 2017 via Google Books.
  9. "Antique Poison Bottles". Collectors Weekly. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  10. "Poison bottle collection". Antiques Roadshow. BBC One. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  11. 1 2 Farmer, Meg (March 2014). "Evolution of the Poison Label: From Skull and Crossbones to Mr. Yuk". SVA.edu. Retrieved 26 February 2022.