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Skull and crossbones | |
In Unicode | U+2620☠SKULL AND CROSSBONES U+1F571🕱BLACK SKULL AND CROSSBONES |
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See also | U+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.
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.
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]
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]
Jolly Roger is the traditional English name for the 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 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.
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.
Hazard symbols are universally recognized symbols designed to alert individuals to the presence of hazardous or dangerous materials, locations, or conditions. These include risks associated with electromagnetic fields, electric currents, toxic chemicals, explosive substances, and radioactive materials. Their design and use are often governed by laws and standards organizations to ensure clarity and consistency. Hazard symbols may vary in color, background, borders, or accompanying text to indicate specific dangers and levels of risk, such as toxicity classes. These symbols provide a quick, universally understandable visual warning that transcends language barriers, making them more effective than text-based warnings in many situations.
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.
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.
In the United States Armed Forces, a guidon is a military standard or flag that company/battery/troop or platoon-sized detachments carry to signify their unit designation and branch/corps affiliation or the title of the individual who carries it. A basic guidon can be rectangular, but sometimes has a triangular portion removed from the fly.
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.
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.
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.
The Capuchin Crypt is a small space comprising several tiny chapels located beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini on the Via Veneto near Piazza Barberini in Rome, Italy. It contains the skeletal remains of 3,700 bodies believed to be Capuchin friars buried by their order. The order insists that the display is not meant to be macabre, but a silent reminder of the swift passage of life on Earth and of mortality.
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, death's-head, Deathshead, or deathshead may refer to:
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.
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.
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.