The first time
the red flag was used politically was in His
Britannic Majesty's fleet in the 18th Century. The sailors struck for better conditions, threw a few of the more repressive
officers overboard and raised
the red flag to show their defiance. They won the
strike and the
King capitulated, but later they went back on their word about no reprisals and many of the "
ringleaders" were hanged.
But
the red flag even predates this, in the
Carribean in the 17th century there was a serious traffic in
gold and many many
pirates. Amongst the most vicious were the all-female pirate ships.
When they went to raid a ship they would fly their battle flag. Everybody has heard of the "
Jolly Roger" skull-and-crossbones style
pirate flag, but actually their flag was blood-red and
Jolly Roger is a
derivation of the French "Jolie Rougier", for these
pirates were Red and
Beautiful!