Barong (sword)
sword or knife
The barong is a thick, leaf-shaped, single-edged blade sword. It is a weapon used by Muslim Filipino ethnolinguistic groups like the Tausug, Sama-Bajau, or Yakan in the Southern Philippines.
Description
Blade
Barong blades are thick and very heavy, with the weight enhancing the sword's slicing capability. Barong blade lengths range from 8 to 22 inches (20 to 56 cm), with an average of 14 inches. Newer blades, on the other hand, tend to be longer, measuring 18 to 22 inches (46 to 56 cm). Damascene patterns are also thick, but again most often not as controlled as the more widely known kalis.
Hilt (handle)
Most handles have a silver sleeve and lacquered braided fiber rings that sit on top. Nobility hilts were made of ivory, carabao horn, or kamagong (Philippine ebony). Other barong swords have less elaborate hilts and are smaller. Common motifs include the cockatoo (kakatua) and the sea serpent (naga).
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This entry incorporates text from “Barong (sword)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.