A flag of black cloth, used with some reference to death or deadly purpose: e.g., as a sign that no quarter will be given or asked, as the ensign of pirates, and as the signal of the execution of a criminal. Also in plur. applied to the pirates of the Chinese Sea, the opponents of the French in Tonquin, etc.
1593. Nashe, Christ’s T. (1613), 7. The black-flag was set vp, which signified there was no mercy to be looked for.
1840. Marryat, Poor Jack, xliv. I would hoist the black flag.
