Hymn to Liberty, the anthem of Greece. It is the longest national anthem in the world with 158 stanzas, although only the first two constitute the official anthem.[1]
If an anthem is defined as consisting of both a melody and lyrics, then the oldest national anthem in use today is the national anthem of the Netherlands, the Wilhelmus.[5] Written between 1568 and 1572 during the Dutch Revolt, it was already a popular orangist hymn during the 17th century, though it would take until 1932 for it to be officially recognized as the Dutch national anthem. The lyrics of the Japanese national anthem, Kimigayo, predate those of the Dutch anthem by several centuries, being taken from a Heian period (794–1185) poem, but were not set to music until 1880.[6] If a national anthem is defined by being officially designated as the national song of a particular state, then La Marseillaise, which was officially adopted by the French National Convention in 1796, would qualify as the first official national anthem.
The Olympic Charter of 1920 introduced the ritual of playing the national anthems of the gold medal winners. From this time, the playing of national anthems became increasingly popular at international sporting events, creating an incentive for such nations that did not yet have an officially defined national anthem to introduce one.[a]
The United States introduced the patriotic song The Star-Spangled Banner as a national anthem in 1931. Following this, several nations moved to adopt as official national anthem patriotic songs that had already been in de facto use at official functions, such as Mexico (Mexicanos, al grito de guerra, composed 1854, adopted 1943) and Switzerland ("Swiss Psalm", composed 1841, de facto use from 1961, adopted 1981).
By the period of decolonisation in the 1960s, it had become common practice for newly independent nations to adopt an official national anthem. Some of these anthems were specifically commissioned, such as the anthem of Kenya, Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu, produced by a dedicated "Kenyan Anthem Commission" in 1963.[7]
A number of nations remain without an official national anthem adopted de jure. In these cases, there are established de facto anthems played at sporting events or diplomatic receptions. These include the United Kingdom (God Save the King) and Sweden (Du gamla, Du fria; the country also has a royal anthem, Kungssangen). Countries that have moved to officially adopt de iure their long-standing de facto anthems since the 1990s include: Luxembourg (Ons Heemecht, adopted 1993), South Africa (National anthem of South Africa, adopted 1997), Israel (Hatikvah, composed 1888, de facto use from 1948, adopted 2004) and Italy (Il Canto degli Italiani, composed 1847, de facto use from 1946, adopted 2017).
Usage
Star-Spangled Banner with the American flag (ca. 1940s). Anthems used during sign-on and sign-off sequences have become less common due to the increasing prevalence of 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week broadcasting.
National anthems are used in a wide array of contexts. Certain etiquette may be involved in the playing of a country's anthem. These usually involve military honours, standing up, removing headwear etc. In diplomatic situations the rules may be very formal. There may also be royal anthems, presidential anthems, state anthems etc. for special occasions.
They are played on national holidays and festivals, and have also come to be closely connected with sporting events. Wales was the first country to adopt this, during a rugby game against New Zealand in 1905. Since then during sporting competitions, such as the Olympic Games, the national anthem of the gold medal winner is played at each medal ceremony; also played before games in many sports leagues, since being adopted in baseball during World War II.[8] When teams from two nations play each other, the anthems of both nations are played, the host nation's anthem being played last.
In some countries, the national anthem is played to students each day at the start and/or end of school as an exercise in patriotism, such as in Tanzania.[9] In other countries the state anthem may be played in a theatre before a play or in a cinema before a movie. Many radio and television stations have adopted this and play the national anthem when they sign on in the morning and again when they sign off at night. For instance, the national anthem of China is played before the broadcast of evening news on Hong Kong's local television stations including TVB Jade.[10] In Colombia, it is a law to play the National Anthem at 6:00 and 18:00 on every public radio and television station, while in Thailand, "Phleng Chat Thai" is played at 08:00 and 18:00 nationwide (the Royal Anthem is used for sign-ons and closedowns instead). The use of a national anthem outside of its country, however, is dependent on the international recognition of that country. For instance, Taiwan has not been recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a separate nation since 1979 and must compete as Chinese Taipei; its "National Banner Song" is used instead of its national anthem.[11] In Taiwan, the country's national anthem is sung before instead of during flag-rising and flag-lowering, followed by the National Banner Song during the actual flag-rising and flag-lowering. Even within a state, the state's citizenry may interpret the national anthem differently (such as in the United States some view the U.S. national anthem as representing respect for dead soldiers and policemen whereas others view it as honouring the country generally).[12]
Various solutions may be used when countries with different national anthems compete in a unified team. When North Korea and South Koreaparticipated together in the 2018 Winter Olympics, the folk song "Arirang", beloved on both sides of the border and seen as a symbol of Korea as a whole, was used as an anthem instead of the national anthem of either state.[13]
Creators
Rouget de Lisle performing "La Marseillaise" for the first time
The committee charged with choosing a national anthem for the Federation of Malaya (later Malaysia) at independence decided to invite selected composers of international repute to submit compositions for consideration, including Benjamin Britten, William Walton, Gian Carlo Menotti and Zubir Said, who later composed "Majulah Singapura", the national anthem of Singapore. None were deemed suitable. The tune eventually selected was (and still is) the anthem of the constituent state of Perak, which was in turn adopted from a popular French melody titled "La Rosalie" composed by the lyricist Pierre-Jean de Béranger.
Other countries had their anthems composed by locally important people. This is the case for Colombia, whose anthem's lyrics were written by former president and poet Rafael Nuñez, who also wrote the country's first constitution, and in Malta, written by Dun Karm Psaila, already a National Poet. A similar case is Liberia, the national anthem of which was written by its third president, Daniel Bashiel Warner.
Languages
A national anthem, when it has lyrics (as is usually the case), is most often in the national or most common language of the country, whether de facto or official, though there are notable exceptions. Most commonly, states with more than one national language may offer several versions of their anthem, for instance:
The "Swiss Psalm", the national anthem of Switzerland, has different lyrics for each of the country's four official languages (French, German, Italian and Romansh).
The national anthem of Canada, "O Canada", has official lyrics in both English and French which are not translations of each other, and is frequently sung with a mixture of stanzas, representing the country's bilingual nature. The song itself was originally written in French.
"The Soldier's Song", the national anthem of Ireland, was originally written and adopted in English, but an Irish translation, although never formally adopted, is nowadays almost always sung instead, even though only 10.5% of Ireland speaks Irish natively.[15]
The current South African national anthem is unique in that five of the country's eleven official languages are used in the same anthem (the first stanza is divided between two languages, with each of the remaining three stanzas in a different language). It was created by combining two songs together and then modifying the lyrics and adding new ones.
The former country of Czechoslovakia combined the two national anthems of the two lands; the first stanza consisting of the first stanza of the Czech anthem "Kde domov můj", and the second stanza consisting of the first stanza of the Slovak anthem "Nad Tatrou sa blýska".
One of the two official national anthems of New Zealand, "God Defend New Zealand", is now commonly sung with the first verse in Māori ("Aotearoa") and the second in English ("God Defend New Zealand"). The tune is the same but the words are not a direct translation of each other.
"God Bless Fiji" has lyrics in English and Fijian which are not translations of each other. Although official, the Fijian version is rarely sung, and it is usually the English version that is performed at international sporting events.
Although Singapore has four official languages, with English being the current lingua franca, the national anthem, "Majulah Singapura" is in Malay and, by law, can only be sung with its original Malay lyrics, despite Malay being a minority language in Singapore. This is because Part XIII of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore declares, "the national language shall be the Malay language and shall be in the Roman script [...]"
There are several countries that do not have official lyrics to their national anthems. One of these is the "Marcha Real", the national anthem of Spain. Although it originally had lyrics, those lyrics were discontinued after governmental changes in the early 1980s after Francisco Franco's dictatorship ended. In 2007, a national competition to write words was held, but no lyrics were chosen.[16] Other national anthems with no words include "Inno Nazionale della Repubblica", the national anthem of San Marino, that of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that of Russia from 1990 to 2000, and that of Kosovo, entitled "Europe".
Despite the most common language in Wales being English, the unofficial national anthem of Wales, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" is sung in the Welsh language.
An unofficial national anthem of Finland, "Maamme", was first written in Swedish and only later translated to Finnish. It is nowadays sung in both languages as there is a Swedish speaking minority of about 5% in the country. The national anthem of Estonia, "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm" has a similar melody with "Maamme", but only with different lyrics and without repeating the second halves of strophes. Finlandia has been repeatedly suggested to be the official national anthem of Finland.[17]
The national anthem of Pakistan, the "Qaumi Taranah", is unique in that it is entirely in Farsi (Persian) with the exception of one word which is in Urdu, the national language.
See also
Personal anthem, for a monarch or representative of a monarch, often in addition to a national anthem or being a national anthem itself
Earth anthem (unofficial), any song or music with the planet Earth in an exalted role
An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short sacred choral work and still more particularly to a specific form of liturgical music. In this sense, its use began c. 1550 in English-speaking churches; it uses English language words, in contrast to the originally Roman Catholic 'motet' which sets a Latin text.
The National Anthem of Chile, also referred to as the "National Song" or by its incipit as "Puro, Chile, es tu cielo azulado", was adopted in 1828. It has a history of two lyrics and two melodies that made up three different versions. The current version was composed by Ramón Carnicer, with words by Eusebio Lillo, and has six parts plus the chorus.
"God Save the King" is the de facto national anthem of the United Kingdom, one of two national anthems of New Zealand, and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Canada and some other Commonwealth realms. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, but an attribution to the composer John Bull has sometimes been made.
"Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" is the unofficial national anthem of Wales. The title, taken from the first words of the song, means "The Old Land of My Fathers" in Welsh, usually rendered in English as simply "Land of My Fathers". The words were written by Evan James and the tune composed by his son, James James, both residents of Pontypridd, Glamorgan, in January 1856. The earliest written copy survives and is part of the collections of the National Library of Wales.
"Poland Is Not Yet Lost", also known as the " Mazurek Dąbrowskiego", and the "Song of the Polish Legions in Italy", is the national anthem of Poland. The original lyrics were written by Józef Wybicki in Reggio Emilia, in Northern Italy, between 16 and 19 July 1797, two years after the Third Partition of Poland marked the end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Its initial purpose was to raise the morale of Jan Henryk Dąbrowski's Polish Legions that served with Napoleon Bonaparte in the Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars. The song expressed the idea that the nation of Poland, despite lacking an independent state of their own, had not disappeared as long as the Polish people endured and fought in its name.
The national anthem of South Africa was adopted in 1997 and is a hybrid song combining extracts of the 19th century Xhosa hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" and the Afrikaans song that was used as the South African national anthem during the apartheid era, "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika", with new English lyrics.
"Wilhelmus van Nassouwe", known simply as "Wilhelmus", is the national anthem of both the Netherlands and its sovereign state, the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It dates back to at least 1572, making it the oldest national anthem in use today, provided that the latter is defined as consisting of both a melody and lyrics. Although "Wilhelmus" was not recognized as the official national anthem until 1932, it has always been popular with parts of the Dutch population and resurfaced on several occasions in the course of Dutch history before gaining its present status. It was also the anthem of the Netherlands Antilles from 1954 to 1964.
"Maamme" is the de facto national anthem of Finland. The music was composed by the German immigrant Fredrik Pacius, with original Swedish lyrics by Johan Ludvig Runeberg. It was first performed with the current melody and lyrics on 13 May 1848. Originally, it was written for the 500th anniversary of Porvoo, and for that occasion it was Runeberg himself who wrote the music.
"A Portuguesa" is the national anthem of Portugal. The song was composed by Alfredo Keil and written by Henrique Lopes de Mendonça during the resurgent nationalist movement ignited by the 1890 British Ultimatum to Portugal concerning its African colonies. Used as the marching song of the failed republican revolt of 31 January 1891, in Porto, it was adopted as the national anthem of the newborn Portuguese Republic in 1911, replacing "Hino da Carta", the anthem of the deposed constitutional monarchy.
The "Himnusz" is the national anthem of Hungary. The lyrics were written by Ferenc Kölcsey, a nationally renowned poet, in 1823, and its currently official musical setting was composed by the romantic composer Ferenc Erkel in 1844, although other lesser known musical versions exist. The poem bore the subtitle „A magyar nép zivataros századaiból” ; it is often argued that this subtitle – by emphasising past rather than contemporary national troubles – was added expressly to enable the poem to pass Habsburg censorship. The full meaning of the poem's text is evident only to those well acquainted with Hungarian history. The first stanza is sung at official ceremonies and as well in common. It was de facto used as hymn of the Kingdom of Hungary from its composition in 1844, and was officially adopted as national anthem of the Third Hungarian Republic in 1989.
"Ja, vi elsker dette landet" is the national anthem of Norway. Originally a patriotic song, it became commonly regarded as the de facto national anthem of Norway in the early 20th century after being used alongside "Sønner av Norge" since the 1860s. It was officially adopted in 2019.
"L-Innu Malti" is the national anthem of Malta. It was written in the form of a prayer to God. Officially adopted in 1964 upon independence from the United Kingdom, the music was composed by Robert Samut, and the lyrics were written by Dun Karm Psaila.
The Swiss Psalm is the national anthem of Switzerland.
"Aegukga" (Korean: 애국가), often translated as "The Patriotic Song", is the national anthem of South Korea. It was adopted in 1948, the year the country's government was founded. Its music was composed in the 1930s and arranged most recently in 2018; its lyrics date back to the 1890s. The lyrics of "Aegukga" were originally set to the music of the Scottish song "Auld Lang Syne" before Ahn Eak-tai composed a unique melody specifically for it in 1936. Before the founding of South Korea, the song, set to the music of "Auld Lang Syne", was sung, as well when Korea was under Japanese rule by dissidents. The version set to the melody composed by Ahn Eak-tai was adopted as the national anthem of the Korean exile government, which existed during Korea's occupation by Japan from the early 1910s to the mid-1940s.
The "Brazilian National Anthem" was composed by Francisco Manuel da Silva in 1831 and had been given at least two sets of unofficial lyrics before a 1922 decree by president Epitácio Pessoa gave the anthem its definitive, official lyrics, by Joaquim Osório Duque-Estrada, after several changes were made to his proposal, written in 1909.
"Aegukka", officially translated as "Patriotic Song", is the national anthem of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, more commonly known as North Korea. It was composed in 1945 as a patriotic song celebrating independence from Japanese occupation and was adopted as the state anthem in 1947.
The State Anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the national anthem of the Soviet Union and the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991, replacing "The Internationale". Its original lyrics were written by Sergey Mikhalkov (1913–2009) in collaboration with El-Registan (1899–1945), and its music was composed by Alexander Alexandrov (1883–1946). For a two-decade interval following de-Stalinization, the anthem was performed without lyrics. The second set of lyrics, also written by Mikhalkov and in which Stalin's name was omitted, was adopted in 1977.
"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" is a Christian hymn composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Xhosa clergyman at a Methodist mission school near Johannesburg.
Patriotic music in Canada dates back over 200 years as a distinct category from British or French patriotism, preceding the first legal steps to independence by over 50 years. The earliest, "The Bold Canadian", was written in 1812.
↑ M. de Bruin, "Het Wilhelmus tijdens de Republiek", in: L.P. Grijp (ed.), Nationale hymnen. Het Wilhelmus en zijn buren. Volkskundig bulletin 24 (1998), pp. 16–42, 199–200; esp. p. 28 n. 65.
↑ J. Leerssen: National Thought in Europe: A Cultural History, Amsterdam University Press, 2020, p. 103.
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