"Aces High" is a song written by Steve Harris. It is Iron Maiden's eleventh single and the second from the 1984 album "Powerslave".

This song describes an air battle from the viewpoint of a flying ace. The lyrics and fast-paced style have made the song commonly associated with war, and it appeared in the 1986 film Incident at Channel Q, about a war between headbangers and conservative "straight people".

The first line is "There goes the siren that warns of the air raid." Lead singer Bruce Dickinson had earned the nickname "The Air Raid Siren" for his powerful, never-tiring vocals. He is also a licensed pilot, and since leaving the band in 1993, has flown many commercial flights.

"Aces High" is partially inspired by the 1976 war film of the same name starring Malcolm McDowell and Christopher Plummer.

The cover for the single was a close-up of Eddie (Iron Maiden's mascot) in a WWII jet. The back of the case showed the jet spiraling the ground, up in flames, smoke spewing from it. The B-side was "King of Twilight."

On the cover art, to the left below the cockpit there is a unique symbol scribbled in white. This is cover art designer Derek Rigg's "logo," which depicts his initials - a mirrored D and an R on the right hand side.

Iron Maiden had already performed two songs about a historical war from the perspective of those being attacked. One was "Invaders," which was set during a Viking sea battle. The other was "Trooper," set during the Crimean War in which the British fought the Russians (see the famous Alfred Lord Tennyson poem The Charge of the Light Brigade). After this, Maiden wrote and performed another song about flying aces in combat, "Tailgunner." "Run to the Hills" was also about a historical war/invasion, but was told from the perspective of both the invaders and the invaded.

The intro of this song is the original Winston Churchill's speech, from 4 June 1940, before the German attack took place. It is one of the most encouraging speeches of history, denoting Churchill's ability of gathering together all forces and strengths of a threatened nation. Iron Maiden also dedicated a ballad to the ancient leader Alexander the Great, a song about power, faith and glory. History was a favorite theme of the band.