''Balarao'' (also spelled ''balaraw'', ''bararao'', and ''bararaw''), also known as "winged dagger", is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

used throughout the pre-colonial Philippines. It is unusually shaped, with a leaf-like blade and a finger-fitting grip consisting of two horn-like projections at the pommel and no guards. The

tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

also protrudes at the back. The dagger is a status symbol among nobility and warriors and is usually finely-worked with precious metals, ivory, and horn. The dagger was described as early as the 1600s by

Antonio de Morga Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay (29 November 1559 – 21 July 1636) was a Spanish soldier, lawyer and a high-ranking colonial official for 43 years, in the Philippines (1594 to 1604), New Spain and Peru, where he was president of the Real Audien ...

, where he details its use by

Visayans Visayans ( Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group, ...

headhunting Headhunting is the practice of hunting a human and collecting the severed head after killing the victim, although sometimes more portable body parts (such as ear, nose or scalp) are taken instead as trophies. Headhunting was practiced i ...

raids. It disappeared throughout most of its range during the Spanish colonial period, though it survived to modern times among the

Mandaya people The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adop ...

, where it is known as the ''bayadau'' or ''badao'' (a name also used for

gunong 350px, An antique gunong from Mindanao. The gunong is a knife from Mindanao and the Visayas islands of the Philippines. In ancient past, it was called bunong by the Tagalog people. It is essentially a diminutive form of the larger kalis or kris. Th ...

daggers).

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Blade weapons Filipino swords {{Knife-stub

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