Warning! SPOILERS for Our Flag Means Death episodes 1-3.
The HBO Max pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death is based on the true story of Stede Bonnet, but the series has made a number of changes from the historical record. Known as the Gentleman Pirate, Bonnet is widely considered to be the most inept pirate captain of all time. The details of Bonnet's brief career are ludicrous enough to be beyond belief, but the story of Our Flag Means Death is largely accurate to the real history, with only a few comedic exaggerations.
Born to a wealthy English family on the island of Barbados, the Gentleman Pirate Stede Bonnet was the last person anyone would expect to turn to piracy. He inherited a sizeable sugar planation at the age of 16, married well, and was a respectable member of high society. His sudden decision to abandon his wife and children, purchase a ship, and sail off for adventure in the summer of 1717 defied the conventions of the time and prompted considerable speculation as to why he did what he did. Our Flag Means Death suggests it was a mid-life crisis and there is considerable evidence to support that theory.
Whatever his reasons for seeking a life at sea, Stede Bonnet proved ill-suited to piracy. Stede can hardly be said to have been a captain at all, having spent most of his brief career as a virtual captive of the dread captain Blackbeard, who took command of his ship, Revenge, and used it to boost his own fleet before returning command back to Bonnet and allowing him to go on his way. This is only one of the many unbelievable but true facts of Stede Bonnet's life that Our Flag Means Death depicts.
Stede Bonnet Was A Real Pirate, But His Crew Are Fictional Characters
While Stede Bonnet was a real historical figure, most of the cast of Our Flag Means Death are original characters. This is largely because we know very little about the original crew of the Revenge, most of whom were killed after Bonnet unwisely tried to attack a Spanish Navy Man O' War. Many of the survivors jumped ship to sail with the legendary pirate captain Blackbeard after he and Bonnet parted ways in December 1717, and few could blame them given Bonnet's lackluster leadership. It should also be noted that the real Stede Bonnet originally commanded a crew of 70 men rather than the eight pirates making up his crew in Our Flag Means Death.
The Real Stede Bonnet Gave His Crew A Salary, But No Tennis Court
Historical pirates traditionally worked for shares of the booty acquired from raiding, with officers and other key roles (such as the ship's cook) getting bonus shares. Stede Bonnet was notable in that he paid his crew a weekly salary, although he was probably the only pirate captain in history who could afford to do so. The first episode of Our Flag Means Death relates this fact, but it presents a standard wage as one of Stede Bonnet's innovations to remove some of the mental pressures that come from being part of a pirate crew, along with a recreation center (with tennis court), en suite, and music room. This is one of Our Flag Means Death's larger anachronisms, making the Revenge seem more like a modern cruise ship than a historical pirate ship.
The Real Stede Bonnet Did Have A Library On His Ship
Another amenity enjoyed by the crew of the Revenge in Our Flag Means Death is a fully stocked lending library. Unfortunately, due to the low literacy rates of the time period, the only way most of the crew can enjoy the library is through Captain Bonnet's nightly story hours. The real Stede Bonnet did maintain a sizeable library, where he spent most of his time reading rather than supervising his crew. He did not, as far as the historical record can tell, read his crew bedtime stories every night. Even if he did, he could not have read them the classic children's story Pinocchio as he does in Our Flag Means Death, since it was not published until long after the real Stede Bonnet's death.
The Real Stede Bonnet Walked The Deck In A Silk Robe
At one point in the pilot episode of Our Flag Means Death, Rhys Darby's version of Stede Bonnet is mistaken for "a heavyset woman in a silk dressing gown" by the British Navy. Surprisingly, this is based on an article from the Boston News Letter which, in reporting on the activities of the far more infamous Blackbeard, described Stede Bonnet as having been sighted walking about the deck of Blackbeard's ship "in his morning gown." This was one of many habits that made Stede Bonnet into as comical a figure as Pirates of the Caribbean's Captain Jack Sparrow in the eyes of the experienced sailors and seasoned soldiers he encountered.
The Real Stede Bonnet Didn't Kill A British Navy Captain And Take Hostages
Our Flag Means Death episode 1 ends with Stede Bonnet having accidentally killed a British Navy Captain before taking two of his officers as hostages. The episodes which follow center around the ensuing consequences, as Bonnet and his crew scheme to sell the hostages into slavery. While this is true to what real world pirates did to their captives when ransom was not an option, the real Stede Bonnet never enjoyed a similar victory at this point in his career.
The Real Stede Bonnet Was Wounded Fighting The Spanish
Our Flag Means Death episode 3 finds the crew of the Revenge setting sail for the Republic of Pirates, so that Stede Bonnet can formally introduce himself to the criminal underworld as the Gentleman Pirate and hopefully impress the other pirate captains of note. In the real world, Stede Bonnet first traveled to the Republic of Pirates after a disastrous battle with a Spanish Man O' War in which he was wounded. Our Flag Means Death episode 3 makes reference to this, however, with Stede Bonnet being wounded after traveling to the Republic of Pirates and being tricked into confessing his crimes to a Spanish Captain.
Stede Bonnet Was A Contemporary of Blackbeard
Our Flag Means Death episode three ends with Stede Bonnet being saved from the Spanish by Blackbeard, who takes an interest in the Gentleman Pirate for some unknown reason. While this battle is entirely fabricated, the real Stede Bonnet did enter into a partnership with the legendary pirate captain Blackbeard. Describing it as a partnership may be generous, as the history suggests that Blackbeard bullied Bonnet into giving him command of the Revenge. The association profited Blackbeard handsomely, however, as adding the Revenge to his fleet enabled him to capture the French ship La Concorde, which Blackbeard made into his most infamous flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge.
The first three episodes of Our Flag Means Death premiered on HBO Max on March 3, 2022.