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wearing a winged helmet]]

A Winged helmet is a helmet decorated with wings, usually on both sides. Ancient depictions of the god Mercury
Mercury (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Mercury was a messenger, and a god of trade, profit and commerce, the son of Maia Maiestas, also known as Ops, the Roman version of Cronus, and Jupiter ....
 and of Roma (personification of the city) depict them wearing winged helmets, however in the 19th century the winged helmet became widely used to depict ancient Celtic, Germanic
Germanic peoples

File:Germanische-ratsversammlung 1-1250x715.jpgThe Germanic peoples are a historical Ethnolinguistics group, originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Indo-European languages Germanic languages which diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre-Roman Iron Age....
 and Viking
Viking

A Viking is one of the Norsemen explorers, warriors, merchants, and Piracy who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century....
 warriors. It was also used in romantic illustrations of legendary Norse gods and heroes
Norse mythology

Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
.






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wearing a winged helmet]]

A Winged helmet is a helmet decorated with wings, usually on both sides. Ancient depictions of the god Mercury
Mercury (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Mercury was a messenger, and a god of trade, profit and commerce, the son of Maia Maiestas, also known as Ops, the Roman version of Cronus, and Jupiter ....
 and of Roma (personification of the city) depict them wearing winged helmets, however in the 19th century the winged helmet became widely used to depict ancient Celtic, Germanic
Germanic peoples

File:Germanische-ratsversammlung 1-1250x715.jpgThe Germanic peoples are a historical Ethnolinguistics group, originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Indo-European languages Germanic languages which diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre-Roman Iron Age....
 and Viking
Viking

A Viking is one of the Norsemen explorers, warriors, merchants, and Piracy who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century....
 warriors. It was also used in romantic illustrations of legendary Norse gods and heroes
Norse mythology

Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the beliefs, myths and legends of the Norse paganism of the North Germanic language people, including those who settled on Faroe Islands and Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled....
. The motif, along with the Horned helmet
Horned helmet

European Bronze Age and Iron Age helmets with horns are known from a few depictions, and even fewer actual finds. Such helmets mounted with Horn or replicas of them were probably used for religious ceremony or ritual purposes....
, became a clichéd signifier of the "barbarian" Northern warrior.

Historical evidence

There is some limited evidence of such decorative motifs being used on actual helmets in the ancient world, but these seem to have functioned as ceremonial rather than functional objects. Winged helmets were first used in depictions of the Celts who were described by Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus

Diodorus Siculus , was a Roman Greece historian who flourished in the 1st century BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agira in Sicily ....
 as wearing helmets with amimal motifs,

On their heads they wear bronze helmets which possess large projecting figures lending the appearance of enormous stature to the wearer. In some cases horns form one part with the helmet, while in other cases it is relief figures of the foreparts of birds or quadrupeds.


Today this kind of helmet is commonly believed to have been worn by the Celts. The Celts, however, never used winged helmets. Instead, their helmets were generally conical helmets with protections in both sides, left and right (similar to, and an inspiration along with the Corinthian helmet
Corinthian helmet

Originated in ancient Greece and taking its name from the area of Corinth, the Corinthian helmet was a type of bronze helmet which in its later styles covered the entire head and neck, with slits for the eyes and mouth....
, for the common Roman helmet).

The ancient depictions of Mercury
Mercury (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Mercury was a messenger, and a god of trade, profit and commerce, the son of Maia Maiestas, also known as Ops, the Roman version of Cronus, and Jupiter ....
 with a winged helmet are taken to symbolize speed. In modern comic book mythology, this has evolved into the wings present in the helmet or head-portion of the costume of various versions of The Flash
Flash (comics)

The Flash is a name shared by several fictional comic book superheroes from the DC Comics DC Comics Universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 ....
.

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