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Battle cry

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This article is about the nature of the battle cry. For other uses, see Battle Cry (disambiguation).

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, 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.

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.

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.
  • The Vikings screamed and imitated animal sounds during battle to intimidate their enemies. One of their cries was "Ahoy!". This has since become a peaceful greeting used by sailors of many nations, but at the time it was considered to be extremely warlike.
  • Many Native Americans used animal sounds to frighten and communicate. Some Native American ethnic groups are famous for their ability to imitate these sounds.
  • The New Zealand rugby union team have a very famous war cry, called the haka which was originally used by the Māori before a battle. The All Blacks use it before each rugby international.
  • The troops of ancient Athens, during the Medic Wars and the Pelopponesian War were noted for going into battle shouting "Eleleu", which was supposed to emulate the cry of the owl, the bird of their patron goddess Athena.

Religious

  • "Allahu Akbar", (The Takbir) — meaning "Allah is 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.
  • 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.
  • 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", looking for holy protection from St. James, the patron saint of Spain.
  • The Normans' cry at the Battle of Hastings was "Dex Aie!" (Norman French, "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.
  • In response to Chechen fighter's Takbir cry, Russian soldiers replied with Kristos vosskres! meaning "Christ has Risen".
  • The French knights of the Middle Ages used to cry "Montjoie! St Denis!", calling upon the patron saint of France.

Miscellaneous

  • "Tierra y Libertad!" (Spanish, "Land and Liberty") was made popular by the Mexican revolutionary, Emiliano Zapata.
  • In Japan during World War II, the kamikaze pilots' battle cry was "Tora, Tora, Tora!" (Japanese, "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger!"). This was also the content of the radio signal which indicated that the Pearl Harbor attack had been a complete success in catching the enemy unawares. "Banzai!" (meaning "Ten thousand years") was also a common Japanese battle cry.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • The Red Army battle cry was "Oo-rah!" (thought to mean "Hurrah!" coming from the Turkish word for "kill"). Many nations use a battle cry or shout of acknowledgement 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 Argentine Navy shouts something that sounds like "Ua! Ua! Ua!", while the Greek Army battle cry sounds like "Aera!", which translates into "Wind!".
  • 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 novel The Unknown Soldier, was "Tulta munille!" which — again roughly — translates to "Fire at their balls!".
  • The War Cry is the official newspaper of The Salvation Army worldwide.
  • "Hrr na ně!" (Czech, "At them!") was used by Hussite wariors 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 Texan 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 beated 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.

Fictional and virtual

  • The peoples of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth had several different battle cries throughout its history:
  • In World of Warcraft, the nonsensical battle cry "Leeroy Jenkins!" has become widespread after originating in a comedic video clip,.
  • In StarCraft, the Protoss Zealot famously yells "My life for Aiur!" upon attack orders or at its creation, indicating its love for its home and for combat.
  • In Warcraft 3 the orcs' battlecry is 'LOK TAR (OGAR)!' or Loknarosh (which means attack in their language). Also, the Night-Elf archer will say 'One shot, one kill' when targeted to another unit.
  • 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!
  • 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 Pokemon, Kadabra, has been seen recently yelling this out.
  • 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 for ever!" 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 SOBs! 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!" This battle cry is very serious, and 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 god of blood wrath.
  • In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000 the heroic Space Marines will often shout praises of their Emperor in mid-battle to intimidate their foe and show their faith.
  • In the web comic Dominic Deegan, Dominic's pet talking cat yells "Death from above" when attacking.

See also

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