Uhlan

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Uhlan" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Uhlans (/ˈuːlɑːn, ˈjuːlən/; Polish: ułan; Lithuanian: ulonas; German: Ulan;^[1] French: uhlan) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance.^[2] They first appeared in the cavalry of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,^[3] in the early 18th century. Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including 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]