Uhlan

An uhlan (; French: uhlan; German: Ulan; Lithuanian: ulonas; Polish: ułan) is a type of light cavalryman, primarily armed with a lance. The uhlans started with the Tartars in the Lithuanian irregular cavalry and were later also adopted by other countries during the 18th century, including Poland, France, Russia, Prussia, Saxony, and Austria. 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). This cap or cavalry helmet was derived from a traditional Polish cap design, formalised and stylised for military use. Their lances were traditionally topped with a small, swallow-tailed flag (pennon) just below the spearhead.