Factual error: Barbossa addresses one of his officers as "lieutenant-commander". This rank was not introduced into the Royal Navy until 1914.
Factual error: In the courtroom scene, the Judge uses a gavel (the small wooden hammer). These are not, and have never been, used in British courts.
Factual error: Captain Barbossa's ship has a modern Union Jack flying on the stern. The film is set in the reign of George II (1727 - 1760). The flag shown includes the cross of St Patrick, although Ireland did not become part of the United Kingdom until 1801, and the Union Jack at the time of the film would have comprised only the crosses of St George (England) and St Andrew (Scotland).
Deliberate mistake: When Jack fights the impostor, they are roughly the same height, but when the impostor is revealed to be Angelica, she is suddenly much shorter than him. (00:21:30 - 00:23:50)
Continuity mistake: The Spaniard extends his arms and throws the chalices away, yet in the close-up they're lying by his tiptoes.
Factual error: The soldiers chasing Sparrow in London have red cockades on their hats. They should be wearing Hanoverian black cockades, as George II was the second king of the House of Hanover.
Revealing mistake: When Blackbeard threatens Jack with a pistol, he is heard cocking it, but when he holds it up to the camera we can see that it is only on half-cock. A pistol cannot be fired in the half-cock position, nor can it be loaded in the fired position, implying that either it is not loaded, or a technical error has been made by the film makers.
Revealing mistake: You can see the mermaid's underwear after she is given only a shirt by Philip. It appears to have red in it, which can be seen through the white shirt given to her.
Continuity mistake: When Jack and Gibbs are coming out of the carriage by the palace, a soldier tosses a little bag with money to the carriage driver. In the next shot, you see the soldier tossing something to the driver again.
Revealing mistake: When Jack Sparrow is chased in London, being on the carriage and looking back to his chasers, you can see the broad tire tracks of a modern vehicle in the mud. (00:16:55)
Continuity mistake: When Jack first wakes up on Blackbeard's ship in the hammock, the bone and trinket on his bandana is one way round. In the next shot, when he falls on to the floor, it changes sides.
Continuity mistake: When the mermaid is resting on the pirates' boat about to sing a song, the amount of hair on her arm swaps from a couple bangs, to a lot, and is either on the shoulder, further down or next to the elbow, between shots.
Factual error: None of the British army officers is wearing the gorget, which was an officer's insignia at this time.
Factual error: After the mermaids scene, when Blackbeard, Jack, and the others start walking through the next island to find the silver chalices, two distinct bird calls can be heard. Both are native to Australia - they are the Magpie Lark, also known as the Peewee, and the other is the Willie Wagtail. Both birds are not found anywhere remotely near the Caribbean.
Continuity mistake: Jack grabs one of Blackbeard's six guns and shoots it after saying "They ain't loaded". After the explosion, he lowers his head in awe and raises it. A frame later, from a different angle, his head is lowered and he is in the process of raising it again.
Continuity mistake: After escaping from the guards, Angélica and Jack swim away in a cave. She grabs a knife and moves it close to her breast, but in the close-up, a frame later, she repeats the same movement.
Continuity mistake: While standing on both carriages, Jack's feet are on the edge of the roof. A frame later, from a different angle, the left one is on the middle part of the roof. (00:17:35)
Revealing mistake: Just before he sees the droplet of water moving upwards, Jack moves three leaves to get through, but the top-right one is just held in his hand and you can see the cut stem of it. (01:42:20)
Continuity mistake: After Blackbeard shows up for the first time, Angélica is shouting at him. The bangs around her face change between frames.
Continuity mistake: The bible that Philip uses to block the lid in the water tank to let the air in moves slightly out and to the right between the first and second shot.
Suggested correction: These movies aren't set in a specific time.
Credit for the following goes to another member here, Super Grover, who actually answered a question about the dates the films are set a while ago. These dates are estimates. The intro of 'PotC: The Curse of the Black Pearl' takes place mid-1720s (roughly 1725), when Will and Elizabeth are around 11/12 yrs old. Then eight years later the duo are about 19-20 yrs old during the main part of 'The Curse of the Black Pearl', then around a year later are set to marry in 'PotC: Dead Man's Chest' followed by the consecutive 'At World's End', which take place around 1733 / 1734. The next movies 'PotC: On Stranger Tides' and 'Dead Men Tell No Tales' (after the intro) take place in the 1750s. Again, credit to Super Grover.
Ssiscool ★
They're set in the 1700's. In "On Stranger Tides", King George wants Jack to find the Fountain of Youth before King Ferdinand, who reigned from 1746 - 1759.
Bishop73