Battle cry

History

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 "Har Har Mahadev" meaning, "Mahadev conquers away!"
• A war cry used in Kerala throughout history is, "Adi Kollu," meaning, "Strike and Kill!" This war cry was later adopted by the Madras Regiment of the Indian Army.
• A common war cry used in Tamil Nadu was "Vetrivel, Veeravel," meaning, "Victorious Vel, Courageous Vel." Vel is the holy spear of Murugan, the Hindu war deity.

  Middle Ages

• Each Turkic tribe and tribal union had its distinct tamga, totemic ongon bird, and distinct uran . 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".
• * Kangly – "bai-terek".
• * Oguzes – "teke"
• Desperta ferro! was the most characteristic cry of the Almogavar warriors, during the Reconquista.
• Deus vult! 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 Holy Roman Empire army was defeated by the Hussites in the Battle of Domažlice. Attacking imperial units started to retreat after hearing Ktož jsú boží bojovníci choral and were annihilated shortly after.
• Allāhu akbar and Allāhu allāh were used by Muslim armies throughout history. Al-naṣr aw al-shahāda 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 - A reference to Odin's self sacrifice at Yggdrasil. Attributed to Eric the Victorious.

  Pre-modern

• When putting out 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. When the peasants counterattacked, they responded with Wahr di, Garr, de Buer de kumt.
• The Spanish cried Santiago both when reconquering Spain from the Moors and during conquest in early colonial America.
• King Henry IV of France, a pleasure-loving and cynical military leader, famed for wearing a striking white plume in his helmet and for his war cry: Ralliez-vous à mon panache blanc!.
• The Sikh battle cry or jaikara Bole So Nihal...Sat Sri Akaal popularized by Guru Gobind Singh.
• The Gurkha soldiers' battle cry was, and still is, Jai Mahakali, Ayo Gorkhali!
• The rebel yell was a battle cry used by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War.
• Finnish troops in the Swedish army in the 17th and 18th centuries, would use the battle cry Hakkaa päälle!, lending them the name Hackapell.
• Irish Regiments of various Armies used and continue to use Gaelic war cries, Faugh a Ballagh or Erin go Bragh
• The Swedish army in the 18th and 19th century would be issued with the command to attack with "För Fäderneslandet, gå på, Hurra!"
• 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 One 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.

  Modern

• During World War II, Tennōheika Banzai served as a battle cry of sorts for Japanese soldiers, particularly in a "banzai charge". The most popular battle cry is "Ei ei oh", which is usually used at the start of battle.
• Hooah is the war cry of the United States Army and Oorah is a war cry used by United States Marine Corps. The Slavic version, "Ura!" has been used by the Imperial Russian Army, the Red Army and is still used by the Russian Ground Forces, alongside many more Eastern European armed forces. It was also used by Yugoslav Partisans as Juriš/Јуриш.
• During the Korean War, the Korean People's Army used the phrase "김일성 수령님 만세"
• "Merdeka atau mati!" Used by Indonesian national army and freedom fighters during Indonesian war of independence.
• "Avanti Savoia!" was the patriotic battle cry of the Italian Royal Army during World War one. Infantrymen would scream this motto when launching an attack against Austro-Hungarians.
• In Afghanistan, Norwegian troops of the Telemark Battalion would sometimes use the battle cry "Til Valhall!" followed by Oorah.
• Muslim Mujahideen and soldiers in the Middle East and North Africa shout 'Allahu Akbar'.
• During the Greco-Italian war the Greeks would shout "Αέρα!" as their battle cry.
• During Bangladesh Liberation War the Mukti Bahini would shout Joy Bangla during their battles against the Pakistani military.
• During the Indochina War in Vietnam, the Viet Minh soldiers usually used "Xung phong" whenever attacking the enemy. And during the Vietnam War, People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam very likely used "Địt con mẹ mày" or "Đụ má" when they attacked American soldiers along with their Allies.
• In 2019 during the Syrian civil war, Islamic militants shouted Allahu akbar before their mortar blasts.