Totenkopf

Totenkopf (ˈtoːtn̩ˌkɔpf, i.e. skull, literally "dead person's head") is the German word for skull, it's 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 to the depiction of the head skeleton; especially often includes two crossed long-bones (femurs) depicted below or behind the skull. It is an old international symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as well as piracy or toxicity. In English, the term Totenkopf is commonly associated with 19th- and 20th-century German military use, particularly in Nazi Germany. In early modern sea warfare, buccaneers used the Totenkopf as a pirate flag: a skull or other skeletal parts as a death threat and as a demand to hand over a ship. The symbol continues to be used by modern navies. Image: Pirate Flag of Rack Rackham.svg | [[Jack Rackham | Calico Jack Rackham]]'s flag Image: Pirate Flag of Emanuel Wynne.svg | [[Emanuel Wynne]]'s flag Image: Pirate Flag of Stede Bonnet.svg | [[Stede Bonnet]]'s flag Image: Pirate_Death's_Head_Flag.svg | Depiction of Stede Bonnet's flag as described in a report from the 1718 Boston News-Letter{{cite web| title = Pirate Flags| author = Ed Foxe| date = 2005-01-17| url = http://www.bonaventure.org.uk/ed/flags.htm| access-date = 2007-07-12| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080115071330/http://www.bonaventure.org.uk/ed/flags.htm| archive-date = 2008-01-15}} Image: Flag of Edward England.svg | [[Edward England]]'s flag Image: Marine_Raiders_insignia.svg | Insignia for the [[United States Marine Corps|USMC]] [[Marine Raiders]] Use of the Totenkopf as a military emblem began under Frederick the Great, who formed a regiment of Hussar cavalry in the Prussian army commanded by Colonel von Ruesch, the Husaren-Regiment Nr. 5 (von Ruesch).