Totenkopf
Totenkopf (, i.e. skull, literally "dead person's head") is the German word for skull. The word is often used to denote a figurative, graphic or sculptural symbol, common in Western culture, consisting of the representation of a human skull- usually frontal, more rarely in profile with or without the mandible. In some cases, other human skeletal parts may be added, often including two crossed long bones (femurs) depicted below or behind the skull. The human skull is an internationally used symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as well as piracy or toxicity. In English, the term Totenkopf is commonly associated with 19th- and 20th-century German military use, particularly in Nazi Germany. Naval use In early modern sea warfare, buccaneers used the Totenkopf as a pirate flag: a skull or other skeletal parts as a death threat and as a demand to hand over a ship. The symbol continues to be used by modern navies. German military Prussia Use of the Totenkopf as a military emblem began under Frederick the Great, who formed a regiment of Hussar cavalry in the Prussian army commanded by Colonel von Ruesch, the Husaren-Regiment Nr. 5 (von Ruesch). It adopted a