Who Was Christopher Moody The Pirate?

The Mysterious Christopher Moody

Christopher Moody is an infamous swashbuckler from the Golden Age of Pirates. But despite his reputation, not much is actually known about him.

Christopher Moody was born in 1694 and was most likely active as a pirate captain between 1713 and 1718. He's likely to have spent some time as part of the crew of Captain Bartholomew Roberts (also known as "Black Bart").

Christopher Moody had two unique qualities that made him famous. The first was his glorious and unusual Jolly Roger.

Christopher Moody's Distinctive Pirate Flag

Moody's Infamous Pirate Flag

The Jolly Roger is a flag flown by a pirate vessel. It often has that recognisable skull and crossbones look that shows nearby sailors that you're a mean and nasty pirate. The Jolly Roger also acts as a calling card of the captain; a way to spread both their fame and fear for their deeds.

Moody had quite an unusual flag. His red flag featured a skull and crossbones, a white arm clutching a sharp dagger and a winged hourglass. The hourglass was a way of telling his enemies that they had so little time left to live that it was like their final hours were flying away. That’s because Moody was well-known for leaving no survivors. This leads us to Moody's second unique quality.

Moody's Second Unique Quality

He killed everyone.

That's right, Moody had a ruthless reputation for leaving no survivors wherever he went. At least, that’s the story. To quote Captain Jack Sparrow “No survivors? Then where do the stories come from, I wonder?”

Was this story true? Or perhaps it's just a myth he wanted to spread to all of his enemies using his unique and intimidating-looking flag.

Either way, this was Moody's reputation until he was eventually captured in 1722 and sentenced to death by hanging for his crimes as a pirate.