The motorcycle is a Bianchi Model 500 A, a 498cc sidevalve single-cylinder machine with a short-leading-link front fork (see patent drawing from Jan 19th, 1915), a Bosch magneto, and Zenith carb. Not just for boys Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia was the honorary leader of the Hussars, who used the ‘totenkopf’ on their uniforms The image has been modified in a thousand ways since this first, simple logo on Renzo’s riding outfit, but the message remains the same don’t mess with me. The Jolly Roger has been utilized by ‘bikers’ in the twentieth century for the same purpose – as a ‘memento mori’ (reminder of mortality), and to signify ‘no fear’ of death. A 1725 woodcut depicting pirate Stede Bonnet with the Jolly Roger In the same era, the ‘Jolly Roger’ was adopted by pirates, privateers, and corsairs plying the world’s oceans, and the first citation of sighting the ‘Jolly Roger’ was in 1724, in Charles Johnson’s ‘A General History of the Pyrates’). In the 1700s, the ‘totenkopf’ (death’s head) became very popular, and was used in an official capacity by von Ruesch’s Hussar Regiment #5 of the Prussian army. After the Knights were disbanded, former Templars flew Roger’s flag when pirating at sea. Regarding the history of the skull and crossbones there is evidence it originated on the flag of Roger II of Sicily (1095-1124), a sponsor of the Knights Templar. In order to counter the high casualty rate (!)… esprit de corps was very important.particular attention was focussed on comraderie and attitude, in order to motivtate the men and help them bear the psychological stress involved.” A corps of Arditi in the Italian Alps during WW1, trained to break a long deadlock with German troops (as discussed in Hemingway’s book ‘A Farewell to Arms’) For the first time, an Italian soldier was given concentrated, specific training, both psychological and physical the Ardito also received the best available equipment and enjoyed superior living conditions. They were specially trained as an elite unit, with (according to ‘Italian Arditi’) “ special recruitment procedures, training, arms, uniforms, priveleges, and benefits. Renzo (“ waiting for action” it says on the back of the photo) was an Ardito (literally – ‘audacious man’) the Arditi were the equivalent of Special Forces in the Italian Royal Army, created during a difficult period during the War for a specific job – to break a stalemate on the entrenched Italian Front. Perusing Aldo Carrer’s excellent book ‘The Motorcycle Uniform During the World War One’ (Zanetti, 2008), I was struck by this image: does this photograph show the first instance of a ‘skull and crossbones’ (or Jolly Roger) on a motorcyclist’s outfit? The photo was taken in Italy during WWI, and shows ‘Renzo’ on a Bianchi Model 500A. Renzo was an Arditi, or Italian special forces in WW1 The postcard of ‘Renzo’, with ‘Ready for action, 1916’ on the reverse.

Skull and cross bone images military