Winged Hussars / Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth & Traditional War Song

The Hussars were famous for their huge “wings“, a wooden frame carrying eagle, ostrich, swan or goose feathers. In the 16th century, characteristic painted wings or winged claws began to appear on cavalry shields. The most common theory is that the hussars wore the wings because they made a loud, clattering noise which made it seem like the cavalry was much larger than in reality and frightened the enemy’s horses. Other possibilities included the wings being made to defend the backs of the men against swords and lassos, or that they were worn to make their own horses deaf to the wooden noise-makers used by the Ottoman and the Crimean Tatars. It seems that the wing was used not to let horse get exhausted--run too fast, making repeated charges possible. Initially the first hussar units in the Polish-Lihuanian Commonwealth were formed by the parliament in 1503, which hired three banners of Hungarian mercenaries. Soon, recruitment also began among locals. Being far more expendable than the heavily armoured lance