Battle cry

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

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) and Ottoman Turkish Allah Allah.

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[edit] Intimidating

[edit] 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, as well as "Yaa Dhiskiaon", an onomatopoeic sound referring to gunpowder.
  • Pakistan Army, in addition to "Allahu Akbar", also uses "Pakistan Zindabad", meaning in Urdu and Persian, "Long Live Pakistan". Some regiments use their own individual war cries (as seen below)
  • The Indian Army uses the cry "Jai Hind" which is Hindi for "Rule/Victory for India". Some regiments use their own individual war cries (as seen below), while their opponents, the Pakistan Army often mocks this by countering with "Meray Hind" (death to India).
  • Pakistans Frontier Force Regiment uses the cry "Labbaik" (Arabic/Persian for "we are here").
  • 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 "Caelum Denique!" (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.
  • In Sweden, during the Great Nordic War, the Swedish Caroleans, would chant "Med Guds hjälp vilja vi strida" (With Gods help, we want to fight) before going into battle.
  • 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, which gives the same sound as Alala cry of ancient Greeks.
  • 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.

[edit] 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!" (correctly Fág an Bealach!)), 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 Irish Republican Army, which translates into "our day will come" in reference to that organisation's desire for Northern Ireland to secede from the United Kingdom and join with the Republic of Ireland as a 32-county socialist republic. 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"). A common warcry during the Second World War was "Oorrah Pobieda", meaning oo-rah Victory. 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.
  • Another warcry used by Russian (albeit Soviet) soldiers during the Second World War, was "Za Stalina!", meaning "For Stalin!"
  • 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". Serbian army also uses "ura" as a battle cry when charging. During second balkan war, and World War I, Sebian and Bulgatian army were enemies, so it was actually difficult to tell them apart. When these clashes are presented in popular literature, one can find that Bulgarian cry is spelled as"Ure", and Serbian as "Ura", notably "Serbian Trilogy" uses this figure to make distinction between them.
  • 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 Latin 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. Is now used by Spanish paratroopers.
  • 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.

[edit] 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 "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 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 Warcraft games the Horde (usually, orcs, but other races on World of Warcraft), has the battle cry "For the Horde!", and many Horde fans are known to use this battle cry online or on LAN games (actually shouting the cry, since everyone on the room can hear)
  • 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 spelled 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 there are many different war cries for the different species in the universe.
    • 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 cry of the Guosim is "Logalogalogalogalog!"
    • The creatures of Redwall Abbey often shout "Redwall!" while fighting or as a means of support to a fighter.
  • In the Marvel Universe, The Thing of the Fantastic Four has a famous battle cry: "It's clobberin' time!" His teammate, the Human Torch, sometimes uses "Flame on!" as a battle cry.
  • The Avengers in the Marvel Universe have "Avengers Assemble!"
  • The comic book character the Tick's nonsensical battle cry is, "Spoooooon!"
  • In the DC Universe, Superman sometimes proclaims "Up, up and away!" while flying into action.
  • The Teen Titans in the DC Universe have "Titans...Together!" In the animated series from Warner Bros., Robin shouts "Titans, Go!"
  • The Blackhawks in the DC Universe have "Hawkaaaaaaaaaa!"
  • 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, whenever 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 dystopian science- fiction universe of Warhammer 40,000 there are many common battlecries for the various races and factions:
    • The Space Marines and the Imperial Guard will often shout praises of their Emperor in mid-battle to intimidate their foe and show their faith (one of the most common ones being "The Emperor Protects!")
    • The Orks employ guttural cries 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.
    • Common battlecries of those who serve the powers of Chaos included "Let the Galaxy Burn!", "Death to the False Emperor!" and, in the case of followers of the Blood God Khorne, "Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Throne of Khorne!" (This last one is also employed by Khorne's followers in Warhammer Fantasy.)
    • The soldiers of the Tau Empire often utter, "For the Greater Good!" to honor the Philosophy taught to them by their leaders, the Ethereals.
  • In the fictional universe of the Warhammer World, the men of the Empire often shout "Sigmar!", the name of the patron deity of the Empire, when in battle. The Bretonnians (based loosely on medieval France and England) employ the name of their goddess, the Lady of the Lake, or just the Lady, when charging into battle.
  • 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 The Transformers, Optimus Prime would use "Autobots, transform and roll out!" as an execute order. Megatron uses "Decepticons, attack!"
  • 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. "This is Sparta!" has become a well-known war cry in popular culture, originating in the movie version, shouted by King Leonidas.
  • In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, the cry "Tempus!" is often used by warriors, with Tempus being the name of the God of War.
  • The Tripods in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds make an Ulla sound while attacking, after destroying HMS Thunderchild and also one makes the sound while dying near the end, the sound is very intimidating.
  • In the game Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars a common Nod battlecry is "KANE LIVES!!" and "FOR THE BROTHERHOOD!!"
  • In the 1980s Hanna-Barbera two-season animated series Pound Puppies, Cooler, the leader of the title characters, would often say "Pound Puppies, let's start pounding!" before going into action.
  • On Filmation's Ghostbusters, Jake Kong Jr. and Eddie Spencer Jr. say "Let's Go Ghostbusters!" as they jump up and give each other a high-five with Tracy the Gorilla.
  • In the end of Braveheart, The Scottish warcry was William Wallace's name after he was executed.
  • On Road Rovers, Hunter, the leader of the title characters, says "Let's hit the road, Rovers!" Then after accomplishing their missions, he says "To the power of the pack!", then the group gives a triumphant howl.
  • In the anime Mew Mew Power (manga Tokyo Mew Mew), when Zoey Hanson/Ichigo Momomiya transformed into a Mew Mew, she would say "Mew Mew Style, Mew Mew Grace, Mew Mew Power in your face!" or "For the Earths future, I'll be of service! ~Nya!" .
  • The War Cry of the South Australian school Rostrevor College is "Choomalaka". It is used mainly for celebration after a sporting victory.

[edit] See also

[edit] 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
  1. ^ cerrar in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española.