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 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.

Contents

1 Examples of battle cries

1.1 Intimidating
1.2 Religious
1.3 Miscellaneous
1.4 Fictional and virtual

2 See also

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 Maori. They used it 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

Michael (archangel) 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! ("Heaven at last!"). The Crusaders, especially the religious orders, also used Deus vult ("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!" ("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" ("God with us"), as their battle cry.
The Takbir, Allahu Akbar, meaning "God is Great," was common in Muslim armies, and is still heard today by soldiers throughout the Muslim world.
The French knights of the Middle Ages used to cry "Montjoie! St Denis!", calling upon the patron saint of France.

Miscellaneous

Tierra y Libertad! ("Land and Liberty") made popular by Mexican revolutionist, Emiliano Zapata
In Japan during World War II, the kamikaze pilots' battle cry was "Tora, Tora, Tora!", which means, "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 of these cries is the origin of the English word slogan. Another, used by the Irish people is "Faugh a Ballaugh!" which simply means "Clear the way!"
The O'Neill family motto is "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!" (Holy Cross and God Almighty), while the fyrd cried "Ut! Ut! Ut!" ("Out! Out! Out!").
The modern Israeli battle cry, "Kadima!", translates literally as into English as "Let's go!" 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. Army shouts "Hooah!", while the Argentine Navy shouts something that sounds like "Ua! Ua! Ua!". 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 Finnish cavalry in Thirty Years' War. One Finnish battle cry during WWII, since popularized by 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.

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!" Elendil was the first High King of Gondor and Arnor in the beginning of the Third Age.

A traditional battle cry of the Dwarves and used by Gimli runs "Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu!" ("Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!"). It is the only recorded example of Khuzdul, the Dwarf-language.

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!"

A traditional battle cry of the Men of the North in the First Age, as told in Unfinished Tales, runs "Lacho calad! Drego morn!" (Flame, light! Flee, night!).

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).

In , 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!"