Leeson, Peter T. Pirational Choice: The Economics of Infamous Pirate Practices(PDF). 2008: 12 [2022-01-04]. （原始内容存档(PDF)于2011-07-15）. "Ships attacking under the death head's toothy grin were therefore considered criminal and could be prosecuted as pirates. Since pirates were criminals anyway, for them, flying the Jolly Roger was costless. If they were captured and found guilty, the penalty they faced was the same whether they used the Jolly Roger in taking merchant ships or not – the hangman's noose... For legitimate ships, however, things were different. To retain at least a veneer of legitimacy, privateers and Spanish coast guard ships could not sail under pirate colours. If they did, they could be hunted and hanged as pirates."
web.archive.org
Leeson, Peter T. Pirational Choice: The Economics of Infamous Pirate Practices(PDF). 2008: 12 [2022-01-04]. （原始内容存档(PDF)于2011-07-15）. "Ships attacking under the death head's toothy grin were therefore considered criminal and could be prosecuted as pirates. Since pirates were criminals anyway, for them, flying the Jolly Roger was costless. If they were captured and found guilty, the penalty they faced was the same whether they used the Jolly Roger in taking merchant ships or not – the hangman's noose... For legitimate ships, however, things were different. To retain at least a veneer of legitimacy, privateers and Spanish coast guard ships could not sail under pirate colours. If they did, they could be hunted and hanged as pirates."
