page_title: Hussar
section_title: Hussars in the early 20th century
hierarchical_section_title: Hussar / History / Hussars in the early 20th century
caption_attribution_description: Български: Снимка на хусарски офицери от австро-унгарската армия пред своята квартира. English: Austro-Hungarian hussars in 1914
context_page_description: A hussar was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry regiments in European armies in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
  A number of armored or ceremonial mounted units in modern armies retain the designation of hussars.
  Historically, the term derives from the cavalry of late medieval Hungary, under Matthias Corvinus, with mainly Serb warriors.
context_section_description: On the eve of World War I, there were still hussar regiments in the British (including Canadian), French, Spanish, German, Russian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Romanian and Austro-Hungarian armies. In most respects, they had now become regular light cavalry, recruited solely from their own countries and trained and equipped along the same lines as other classes of cavalry. But Hussars were still notable for their colourful and elaborate parade uniforms, the most spectacular of which were those worn by the two Spanish regiments, Húsares de Pavía and Húsares de la Princesa.
  A characteristic of both the Imperial German and Russian Hussars was the variety of colours apparent in their dress uniforms.  These included red, black, green, dark and light blue, brown and even pink (the Russian 15th Hussars) dolmans. Most Russian hussar regiments wore red breeches, as did all the Austro-Hungarian hussars of 1914. This rainbow-effect harked back to the 18th-century origins of hussar regiments in these armies and helped regrouping after battle or a charge.
  The fourteen French hussar regiments were an exception to this rule – they wore the same relatively simple uniform, with only minor distinctions, as the other branches of French light cavalry. This comprised a shako, light blue tunic and red breeches. The twelve British hussar regiments were distinguished by different coloured busby bags and a few other distinctions such as the yellow plumes of the 20th, the buff collars of the 13th and the crimson breeches of the 11th Hussars.
  Hussar influences were apparent even in those armies which did not formally include hussar regiments. Thus, both the Belgian Guides (prior to World War I) and the Mounted Escort, the so-called Blue Hussars, of the Irish Defence Forces (during the 1930s) wore hussar-style uniforms.
caption: Austro-Hungarian hussars in 1914
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