Uhlan

For the racehorse, see Uhlan (horse).

Polish uhlans from the army of the Duchy of Warsaw, 1807–1815, January Suchodolski painting

Uhlan (/ˈuːlɑːn, ˈjuːlən/; French: uhlan; German: Ulan;[1] Lithuanian: ulonas; Polish: ułan) is a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance.[2] The uhlans started as Lithuanian irregular cavalry,[3] that were later also adopted by other countries during the 18th century, including Poland, France, Russia, Prussia, Saxony, and Austria-Hungary. The term "lancer" was often used interchangeably with "uhlan"; the lancer regiments later formed for the British Army were directly inspired by the uhlans of other armies (even though they were never known by that name).

Uhlans traditionally wore a double-breasted short-tailed jacket with a coloured plastron panel at the front, a coloured sash, and a square-topped Polish lancer cap (rogatywka, also called czapka).[4] This cap or cavalry helmet was derived from a traditional Polish cap design, formalised and stylised for military use.[4] Their lances were traditionally topped with a small, swallow-tailed flag (pennon) just below the spearhead.[4]

  1. ^ Weekley 1921, p. 1563.
  2. ^ Melegari 1972, p. 16.
  3. ^ Lawford 1976, p. 140.
  4. ^ a b c Haythornthwaite 2012.