Antiquity • 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
onomatopoeic cry
"alala" in battle. • The troops of ancient
Athens, during the
Medic Wars and the
Peloponnesian War were noted for going into battle shouting "
Alala!" or
"Alale!", which was supposed to emulate the cry of the owl, the bird of their patron goddess
Athena. • The
Western Huns attacked with terrifying battle cries. • One of the common
Hindu war cries was "
Hara Hara Mahadeva" meaning, "
Hail to Mahadeva!" (Shiva). • Another common war cry in
India was "Jai Bhavani" meaning, "
Hail goddess Bhavani!” • A common war cry used in ancient
Tamilakam was "Vetrivel, Veeravel", meaning, "Victorious vel, courageous vel."
Vel is the spear of
Murugan, the regional form of
Kartikeya, the Hindu war deity. In the contemporary period, the battle cry "Vetrivel, Veeravel" is being used in the 191 Field Regiment of the
Indian Army based in
Madukkarai,
Coimbatore.
Middle Ages • During the Scottish wars of independence, Scottish soldiers used
Alba gu bràth as a battle-cry, a phrase that means 'Scotland for ever' (literally, 'Scotland until judgement'.) This was depicted in the film
Braveheart during which
Mel Gibson, playing
William Wallace, shouts the phrase to rally his soldiers just before a battle commenced. • Each Turkic tribe and tribal union had its distinct
tamga (seal), totemic
ongon bird, and distinct
uran (battle cry) (hence the Slavic
urah "battle cry"). While tamgas and
ongons could be distinct down to individuals, the hue of horses and
uran battle cries belonged to each tribe, were passed down from generation to generation, and some modern battle cries were recorded in antiquity. On split of the tribe, their unique distinction passed to a new political entity, endowing different modern states with the same
uran battle cries of the split tribes, for example
Kipchak battle cry among
Kazakhs,
Kirgizes,
Turkmens, and
Uzbeks. Some larger tribes'
uran battle cries: • Kipchak – "ay-bas" ("
lunar head"). • Kangly (Kangars) – "bai-terek" ("
sacred tree"). • Oguzes – "teke" ("
mount") •
Desperta ferro! ("Awake iron!" in Catalan) was the most characteristic cry of the
Almogavar warriors during the
Crown of Aragon military campaigns across the
Mediterranean from the 12th through to the 14th centuries. •
Deus vult! ("God wills it!" in Latin) was the battle cry of the Crusaders. •
Montjoie Saint Denis!: battle cry of the
Kings of France since the 12th century. •
Santiago y cierra, España! was a war cry of Spanish troops during the
Reconquista, and of the
Spanish Empire. • On 14 August 1431, the whole
Army of the Holy Roman Empire (of the
4th anti-Hussite crusade) was defeated by the
Hussites in the
Battle of Domažlice. Attacking imperial units started to retreat after hearing
Ktož jsú boží bojovníci ("
Ye Who Are Warriors of God") choral and were annihilated shortly after. •
Allāhu Akbar (الله أكبر, "
God is [the] Greatest") and
Allāhu Allāh (الله الله, "God! God!") were used by Muslim armies throughout history.
Al-naṣr aw al-shahāda (النصر أو الشهادة, "Victory or martyrdom") was also a common battle cry; the
At-Tawbah 9:52 says that God has promised to the righteous Muslim warrior one of these two glorious ideals. •
Óðinn á yðr alla (
Odin owns you all) – A reference to Odin's self sacrifice at Yggdrasil. Attributed to
Eric the Victorious.
Pre-modern • When suppressing peasants' rebellions in Germany and Scandinavia around 1500, such as in the
Battle of Hemmingstedt, the Dutch mercenaries of the
Black Guard yelled
Wahr di buer, die garde kumt ("Beware, peasants, the guards are coming"). When the peasants counterattacked, they responded with
Wahr di, Garr, de Buer de kumt ("Beware, Guard, of the peasant, [who is] coming"). • The Spanish cried
Santiago ("Saint James") both when reconquering Spain from the
Moors and during conquest in early colonial America. • Polish "
Winged Hussars" used to shout
Jezus Maria ("
Jesus,
Mary") or
Matka Boska ("
Mother of God") during their charges. • King
Henry IV of France (1553–1610), a pleasure-loving and cynical military leader, was famed for wearing a striking white plume in his helmet and for his
war cry:
Ralliez-vous à mon panache blanc! ("Follow my white plume!"). • Burmese soldiers of the
Konbaung Dynasty under
Alaungpaya were recorded to shout
Shwebo-Thar (Sons of Shwebo) during the
Konbaung-Hanthawady War. • Most of the
jaikaras were popularized by
Guru Gobind Singh. The
Sikhs have a number of battle cries or jaikara: the most popular ones are as follows: •
Bolnaji (Respectfully Utter) –
Waheguru (
Wondrous Enlightener) •
Deg Teg Fateh (Victory to Charity and Arms) –
Birdh ki Paij Panth ki jit (
Rout of the Enemy Victory of the Sikh
Path) •
Bole So Nihal...Sat Sri Akaal ("Shout Aloud in Ecstasy... True is the Great
Timeless One"), •
Nanak naam charhdi kalaa (May
Thy name be exalted O
Nanak) –
Tere bhaanae sarbatt daa bhalaa (and all people prosper by Thy grace) •
Waheguru ji ka Khalsa (the Community of the
Pure belongs to the Wondrous Enlightener) –
Waheguru ji ki Fateh (Victory belongs to the Wondrous Enlightener) •
Raj Karega Khalsa – (The Khalsa will rule) Aaakki Rahe Na Koye (And no opponent will remain) •
Gaj ke jaikara gajaave fateh paave nihaal ho jaavae, Sat Sri Akaal gurbaar akaal hee akaal|| (excerpt from
ardas of
Buddha Dal prayerbook (gutka) praising the blessing of uttering jaikara proclaiming supreme truth). • The
Pashtun soldiers' war cry against the
Mughals was
Hu, Hu. • The
Gurkha (Gorkha) soldiers' battle cry was, and still is,
"Jai Mahakali, Ayo Gorkhali!" ("Victory to Goddess
Mahakali, the Gurkhas are coming!") • The "
rebel yell" was a battle cry used by
Confederate soldiers during the
American Civil War. • Finnish light cavalry troops in the
Swedish Army in the 17th and 18th centuries would use the battle cry
"Hakkaa päälle!" ("Cut them down!" in Finnish), lending them the name
Hackapell. • Irish regiments of various armies used and continue to use Gaelic War cries,
"Faugh a Ballagh" ("Clear the way!") or "Erin go Bragh" ("Ireland Forever") • The
Swedish army in the 18th and 19th centuries would be issued with the command to attack with "För Fäderneslandet, gå på, Hurra!" ("For the Fatherland, onwards, Hurrah!") •
Argentine general
José de San Martín is known in
South America for his
war cry: "
Seamos libres, que lo demás no importa nada!" ("Let's be free, nothing else matters!"). • In the
Texas Revolution, following the
Battle of Goliad and the
Battle of the Alamo, Texan soldiers would use the battle cry "Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!" • In the
Battle of Dybbøl in 1864, both Danish and German forces used "Hurrah" as a war cry. • During
World War I in the
Italian Front of 1915. Before battle, Italian soldiers would yell "Savoia" or "Avanti Savoia", which is "Come on
Savoy!" or "Onwards Savoy!" in Italian (compare "For the king!" among British soldiers of the same era).
Modern • During
World War II,
Tennōheika Banzai (天皇陛下万歳,
May the Emperor live for ten thousand years) served as a battle cry of sorts for Japanese soldiers, particularly in a "
banzai charge". The most popular battle cry is "Ei ei oh" (エイエイオー), which is usually used at the start of battle. • "Avanti Savoia!" (English: Go
Savoy!) was the patriotic battle cry of the
Italian Royal Army during
World War I and to a lesser extent, World War II. Infantrymen would scream this motto when launching an offensive attack, namely against the
Austro-Hungarians. • During the
Greco-Italian War (in WWII), the Greeks would shout "Αέρα!" (wind) as their battle cry. • During the
Korean War, the
Korean People's Army used the phrase "김일성 수령님 만세" (transliterated
gim-ilseong sulyeongnim manse, translated as "Long live the Great Leader
Kim Il Sung"). • "
Hooah" is the war cry of the
United States Army, the
United States Air Force, and the
United States Space Force. "
Oorah" is the war cry used by
United States Marine Corps. "
Hooyah" is the war cry of the
United States Navy and the
United States Coast Guard. • The Slavic version, "Ura!" has been used by the
Imperial Russian Army, the
Red Army,
Russian Ground Forces, alongside many more Eastern European armed forces. It was also used by
Yugoslav Partisans as Juriš/Јуриш. • "Merdeka atau mati!" (English: Freedom or death!) Used by Indonesian national army and freedom fighters (Indonesian: Pedjoeang/pejuang) during the
Indonesian National Revolution. • In Afghanistan, Norwegian troops of the
Telemark Battalion would sometimes use the battle cry "Til Valhall!" (To
Valhalla!) followed by
Oorah. •
Mujahideen and
jihadists in the Middle East and North Africa shout "
Allahu Akbar" (God is the Greatest). • During the
Bangladesh Liberation War the
Mukti Bahini would shout "
Joy Bangla" ("Victory to
Bengal" / "Long live Bengal") during their battles against the Pakistani military. • During the
Indochina War in
Vietnam, the
Viet Minh soldiers usually used "Xung phong" (English: Charge) whenever attacking the enemy. The same battle cry would be used later by
PAVN and
NLF forces during the
Vietnam War. • Each individual regiment of the
Indian Army has a unique war cry. These chants are sonorous with the beliefs of individual castes and religions from which the troops belong to. • Croatian armed forces during the
Croatian War of Independence would use "
Za dom spremni". One would start by saying "Za dom!" and the rest would follow with "Spremni!". It translates loosely to "For home – ready!" or "For homeland – ready!". •
Leeroy Jenkins is an
internet meme, which has often served the purpose of an ironic or fatalistic parody of a battle cry, originating from a famous video of a
World of Warcraft clan creating an intricate battle plan, before being party-wiped as a result of Leeroy Jenkins, who had been
AFK at the time, charging in head-first. This gave rise to the phrase in
first-person shooter games, where players will shout "LEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEENKIIIIIIIIIINS!" as they charge at the enemy. The phrase has gained notoriety, making appearances in various non-World of Warcraft media. • Various
Kurdish groups such as
PKK,
YPG and
Peshmerga use the following phrases "Bijî Kurdistan!" short for "Her Bijî Kurdistan" (English: Long Live Kurdistan), which is usually accompanied with "Her Bijî!" (English : Long live) "Yan Kurdistan Yan Neman" (English: Either Kurdistan or Extinction!) • During the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, "Slava Ukraini" (
Слава Україні! English: Glory to Ukraine!), often accompanied by a reply of "Heroiam Slava" (
Героям слава! English: Glory to the heroes!), became an internationally-known battle cry not only among domestic forces, but also among
Western, mostly
NATO allies. ==In Literature==