Orlando Pirates – History of The Skull and Crossbones Logo

The history of Orlando Pirates is rich in its content and time. This rich history provides the club a unique opportunity to dig deep and find answers for the future. Orlando Pirates is living proof that, “time present and time past, are present in time future”.

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Did you know that the original Orlando Pirates logo was the letter P? This letter P came from Phiri-Phiri, one of teams that was part of the amalgamation to form Orlando Pirates.

The skull and the crossbones came about twenty-three years after the founding of the Club. It was whilst watching one of the popular movies about pirates (sea robbers) at the then Broadway Cinema on the westside of Johannesburg CBD that the club officials, under the chairmanship of Bethuel Mokgosinyana were so impressed by the fierceness and tenacity of the combatants they were watching, that they decided the skull and crossbones would make the perfect logo for a club that wanted to be feared by its opponents. 

An entrepreneur-supporter who was part of the inner circle, Rankusi Maphisa, popularised the logo by manufacturing stickers that became very popular with Orlando Pirates supporters across the length and breadth of South Africa. Here is to 60 years of the skull and crossbones!