Battle cry

Template:Two other uses

A battle cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same military unit. The content and nature of battle cries vary, depending on whether their intent is to threaten, to give courage, invoke a family name or family lands, or call on a god for assistance. These cries can serve many purposes, including inspiring those otherwise inclined to stay back, terrifying the enemy, promoting a sense of esprit de corps, as well as communicating to allies that they have support. During the Middle Ages, many cries appeared on standards and were adopted as mottoes, an example being the motto "Dieu et mon droit" ("God and my right") of the English kings. It is said that this was Edward III's rallying cry during the Battle of Crécy.

The word Slogan originally derives from sluagh-gairm or sluagh-ghairm (sluagh = "people", "army" and gairm = "call", "proclamation"), the Scottish Gaelic word for "gathering-cry" and — in times of war — for "battle-cry". The word changed later on to slughorn, sluggorne, and slogan.

The war cry is an aspect of epic battle in Homer: in the Iliad, Diomedes is conventionally called "Diomedes of the loud war cry." Hellenes and Akkadians alike uttered the cry "alala" in battle, a cry not far from "Alleluia" (Burkert 1992:39-40).

Examples of battle cries

Intimidating

The Rebel yell, a call taken up by troops fighting on the side of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
Many Native Americans used animal sounds to frighten and communicate. Some Native American ethnic groups are famous for their ability to imitate these sounds.
Māori warriors traditionally performed a haka, a posture dance with chanted vocals, before battle to intimidate their enemies. The All Blacks rugby union team performs a haka before each international match.
The troops of ancient Athens, during the Medic Wars and the Peloponnesian War were noted for going into battle shouting "Alala", which was supposed to emulate the cry of the owl, the bird of their patron goddess Athena.

Religious and military

"Har Har Mahadev!" meaning "Mahadev- the Hindu God" in Marathi — was used by the Marathas who formed the Maratha Empire. It is still used by the Maratha regiment of the Indian Army.

"Allahu Akbar" (the Takbir) meaning "God is the greatest" in Arabic — was common in Muslim armies or commonly used by Muslim warriors such as Cheemas in battle, and is still heard today by soldiers throughout the Muslim world.
Sikh soldiers have historically used "Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal", meaning "He who cries God is Truth, is Ever Happy". This is still used by the soldiers of the Indian Army's Sikh, Sikh Light Infantry and Punjab regiments.
Gurkha soldiers have historically used "Jai Mahakali, Ayo Gorkhali", meaning "Victory to goddess Mahakali, The Gorkhas Are Here", This is still used by soldiers Gurkha regiments of the Indian Army and British Army.
The Crusaders used the cry "Denique caelum!" (Latin, "Heaven at last!"). The Crusaders, especially the religious orders, also used "Deus vult" (Latin, "God wills it").
In Spain, during the Reconquista (718-1492 AD) and the conquest of America, they cried "Santiago y cierra, España" ("Saint James and attack^[1], Spain") or simply "Santiago", looking for holy protection from St. James, the patron saint of Spain.
The Normans' cry at the Battle of Hastings was "Dex Aie!" (Old Norman, "God aid us!"). This was last used by the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry during the First World War.
The Ottoman Turkish armies used to cry out "Allah! Allah! Allah!" when charging foes.
The late Roman and Byzantine empires used "Nobiscum Deus" (Latin, "God with us"), as their battle cry.
The French knights of the Middle Ages used to cry "Montjoie! St Denis!", calling upon the patron saint of France.
The Anglo-Gascon knights of the Middle Ages used to cry "Guyenne! Saint George!" during their fights against the French.
Michael is one of the principal angels in Abrahamic tradition; his name was said to have been the war-cry of the angels in the battle fought in heaven against Satan and his followers.

Miscellaneous

"¡Tierra y Libertad!" (Spanish, "Land and Freedom") was made popular by the Mexican revolutionary, Emiliano Zapata.
In Japan during World War II, the kamikaze pilots' battle cry was "Banzai!" (meaning "Ten thousand years", adapted from Chinese wànsùi). Many people misunderstood "Tora, Tora, Tora!" (Japanese, "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger!") as a battle cry. But this was the content of the radio signal which indicated that the Pearl Harbor attack had been a complete success in catching the enemy unaware.
The various Gaelic-speaking peoples have a long tradition of employing battle cries. One used by the Irish people is "Faugh a Ballaugh!", Irish for "Clear the way!" The O'Neill family motto is the Irish "An Lamh Dearg Abú", in English "The Red Hand" — the heraldic symbol of O'Neill and Ulster — followed by "Abú," which is phonetic and can only be translated at high volume. "Tiocfaidh ár lá" is another cry used, primarily by the IRA, which translates into "Our day will come!" in reference to the day Ireland is free of British involvement. It has become the unofficial slogan of the Irish Republican movement and is sometimes shouted as "Beidh ár lá linn", or "We shall have our day!"
At the Battle of Hastings, Wace records that the housecarls of the Saxon army cried "Olicrosse!" and "Godamite!" (Old English, "Holy Cross" and "God Almighty", respectively), while the fyrd cried "Ut! Ut! Ut!" ("Out! Out! Out!").
The modern Israeli battle cry, the Hebrew "Kadima!", translates literally as into English as "Forward!" It has since become the name of an Israeli political party founded by Ariel Sharon. Another Israeli battle cry is "Akharai!", which is translates as "After Me!"
The Russian Army battle cry had traditionally been "Ura!" (pronounced "oo-rah," thought to mean "Hurrah!" coming from the Turkish word for "kill"). Many nations use a battle cry or shout of acknowledgment that has a similar sound to this, although explanations can vary wildly. For example, the U.S. Marines also shout "Oo-rah" — although the derivation is different — and the U.S. Army shouts "Hooah!". The U.S. Navy SEAL Teams use "Hoo-YAH!" for motivation in training. The Argentine Navy shouts something that sounds like "Ua! Ua! Ua!", while the Greek Army battle cry is "Aera!", i.e. (sweep them away like the) wind.
The Bulgarian army traditionally uses "Ura" as a battle cry, although it differs slightly from the Russian one. The Russians put the emphasis on the "r", while Bulgarians shout predominantly the "a".
A Finnish battle cry "Hakkaa päälle!", which roughly translates as "Cut them down!", gave the colloquial name, Hakkapeliitta for the Finnish cavalry in the Thirty Years' War. One Finnish battle cry during World War II, since popularized by The Unknown Soldier, was "Tulta munille!" which — again roughly — translates as "Fire at their balls!".
"Hrr na ně!" (Czech, "At them!") was used by Hussite warriors during the Hussite Wars. Modern Czech infantry often uses "Hurá!" while charging (similar to the Red Army cry mentioned above).
During the Battle of San Jacinto, the Texian volunteers rushed into the fight crying, "Remember The Alamo, Remember Goliad!"
The Almogavars used to cry "Desperta ferro!", which translates from Catalan as "Awake the iron!". They used to cry this shout the dawn before a battle, while they beat their swords on the nearby rocks to keep them clean from the rust. In the dim light many sparks were lighted, which scared the enemy watching them, as explained by Ramon Muntaner.
Late in the US Civil War, Confederate Army troops in the Virginia theater of war claimed that Union soldiers of the Army of The Potomac charging their positions would utter a battle cry which sounded either like "huzzah" or "hurrah" (Huzzah coming from a British cry). Confederate troops said that they found the battle cry unnerving, mostly because it revealed the size of the oncoming Union forces, which usually well outnumbered the defending Confederates, and that battle was soon to be had.

Fictional and virtual

The peoples of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth had several different battle cries throughout its history:
- In The Lord of the Rings, a battle cry of Aragorn is "Elendil!", which was the name of the first High King of Gondor and Arnor.
- In The Lord of the Rings, the battle cry of the Rohirrim at The Battle of Helm's Deep, when they are about to ride out is "Fell deeds await... Now for Wrath... Now for Ruin... and the Red Dawn... Forth, Eorlingas!" a name the Rohirrim give themselves after Eorl, first lord of Rohan.
- A traditional battle cry of the Dwarves and used by Gimli runs "Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!" (Dwarvish "Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!").
- The battle cry of the Hobbits is "The Shire!" — the name of their land (although they almost never participated in battles). The Took warcry, used by Peregrin Took, is "A Took! A Took!"
- At the attack on Weathertop, Frodo uses "Elbereth Gilthoniel", the Queen of the Valar, as a battle cry against the Nazgûl.
- A traditional battle cry of the Men of the North in the First Age, as told in the Silmarillion, runs "Lacho calad! Drego morn!" ("Flame, light! Flee, night!").
Bruce Lee was and still is famous for his high pitch howling as he fought in his films.
In World of Warcraft and other online games, the nonsensical battle cry "Leeroy Jenkins!" has become widespread after originating in a comedic video clip. A number of battle cries can be heard by using the /charge emote, which vary by faction and race.
In StarCraft, the Protoss Zealot yells "My life for Aiur!" upon attack orders or at its creation, indicating its love for its home and for combat.
In Xena: Warrior Princess, Lucy Lawless based her war-cry on the ululation or wail often heard from Arab women. It is often spelt Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!, but it is pronounced A-le-le-le-le-le-le-le-le! (see Alala).
In the Redwall series by Brian Jacques the war cry "Eulalia," which is supposedly based on an old Norse battle cry meaning "Victory!", is used by the badgers and hares associated with the mountain fortress of Salamandastron.
The Marvel Universe, The Thing of the Fantastic Four has a famous battlecry: "It's clobberin' time!"
The comic character The Tick's nonsensical battle cry is, "Spoooooon!"
The Blackhawks in the DC Universe have "Hawka!"
Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time -
- "Dovie'andi se tovya sagain." = "It's time to toss the dice."
- "Los! Los caba'drin!" = "Forward! Forward horsemen!"
- "Los Valdar Curbiyari! Los!" = "Forward the Heart Guard! Forward!"
- "Carai an Caldazar! Al Caldazar!" = "For the Honor of the Red Eagle! The Red Eagle!"
In the movie Starship Troopers the battlecry "Come on you apes, you wanna live forever?" is often used. It has been credited to U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant (and two time Medal of Honor Awardee) Dan Daly in the Battle of Belleau Wood during World War I. It is paraphrased from Gunny Daly's original quote "Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?!
In the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, the Dwarfs, a traditional battle cry in the Dwarfish language is T'dr'duzk b'hazg t't!, meaning "Today is a good day for someone else to die!" After it is declared, someone must die.
In Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Always the fledging Kain kills an enemy we can hear the battle cry Vae Victis (Woe to the Conquered).
In the trilogy written by Mickey Zucker Reichert the Renshai tribe would shout out "Modi", the name of their god of blood wrath.
In the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, Michelangelo famously yelled "Cowabunga!" as he entered battle. Other battle cries from the Turtles included "Turtle Power!" (yelled by all four) and "Turtles fight with honor!" (usually declared by Leonardo). Other battlecries included "Let's kick some shell!" and "Go Green Machine"!
In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000 the Space Marines will often shout praises of their Emperor in mid-battle to intimidate their foe and show their faith while the Orks employ guttural cry usually transliterated as "WAAAAGH!", as do the Orcs in Fantasy, "WAAAAGH!" doubles as their religion and a multipurpose word with some tribes using it as their only word as well as the term for a very large gathering of orcs or orks launching a military expedition.
In the anime Wedding Peach, when Momoko Hanasaki transformed into the love angel Wedding Peach she would say "I am a love angel, I am Wedding Peach, and I am very angry with you!"
In the fictional universe of Dune, the Fremen often shout the name of their messiah, Muad'dib, or Mahdi (a title), when charging into combat. Another Fremen battle cry is, "Ya hya chouhada!" which translates to "Long live the fighters!" In the Dune film, this is taken a step further, when the Fremen activate their weirding modules (sound based weapons), by yelling Muad'dib.
In Star Trek, the Klingon characters often shout "Today is a good day to die!" as a Battle Cry. Jem'Hadar characters shout "Victory is Life!"
In the G.I. Joe: The Movie, Cobra soldiers often rushed into battle screaming "Cobra-la-la-la-la-la-la" or just "COBRA"!!!! G.I. Joe members shout "Yo Joe!".
In H. Beam Piper's Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen the Hostigi forces used the battle cry "Down Styphon!"
In the short-lived cartoon series Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars, Bucky O'Hare and his team often shouted "Let's croak some toads!"
On Transformers, Optimus Prime would use "Autobots, transform and roll out!" as an execute order.
In the Deathstalker series, the Deathstalker clan uses "Shandrakor!" after the planet where the clan's founder was slain.
In the film Red Dawn, the young band of student soldiers used "WOLVERINES!" their school mascot as their rallying cry.
In 300, the Spartans use "HAROO!!" as their battle cry.
In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, the cry "Tempus!" is often used by barbarian warriors, with Tempus being the name of the barbarian God of war.

References

Burkert, Walter, 1992. The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influences on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age, p 39f.
Guilhem Pepin, ‘Les cris de guerre « Guyenne ! » et « Saint George ! ». L’expression d’une identité politique du duché d’Aquitaine anglo-gascon’, Le Moyen Age, cxii (2006) pp 263-81

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