National anthem

Rouget de Lisle entona The Marsellesa, national anthem of France.

A national anthem is an emblematic musical composition of a nation, which identifies it and unites those who interpret it.

In general, national anthems try to reflect unity, a feeling of solidarity and the glorification of a country's history and traditions. In many cases, they were not written for that purpose, but acquired that function later to commemorate some historical or military event, especially during the awakening of national sentiment in the 18th and xix. During the xix and xx centuries, with the growth of the number of countries independent, many of them adopted national anthems that, in some cases, coexisted with popular songs of a patriotic nature used.

History

Early version of the "Wilhelmus" preserved in a manuscript of 1617 (Brussels, Royal Library, MS 15662, fol. 37v-38r).

In the early modern period, some European monarchies adopted royal anthems. Some of these hymns have survived into current use. 'God Save the King/Queen', first performed in 1619, remains the royal anthem of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth realms. La Marcha Real, adopted as the royal anthem of the Spanish monarchy in 1770, was adopted as the national anthem of Spain in 1939. Denmark retains its royal anthem, Kong Christian stod ved højen mast (1780) together with its national anthem (Der er et yndigt land, adopted in 1835). In 1802, Gia Long commissioned a European-style royal anthem for the Kingdom of Vietnam.

After the reinstatement of La Marseillaise in 1830, following the July Revolution, as the national anthem of France, it became common for newly formed nations to define national anthems, especially as a result of the Latin American wars of independence, to Argentina (1813), Peru (1821), Brazil (1831) but also Belgium (1830). Consequently, the adoption of national anthems before the 1930s was mostly by newly formed or newly independent states, such as the First Portuguese Republic (A Portuguesa, 1911), the Kingdom of Greece ("Hymn to Liberty", 1865) the First Philippine Republic (March Philippine National, 1898), Lithuania (Tautiška giesmė, 1919), Weimar Germany (Deutschlandlied, 1922), Republic of Ireland (Amhrán na bhFiann, 1926) and Greater Lebanon ("Lebanese National Anthem", 1927). Although the custom of an officially adopted national anthem became popular in the 19th century, some national anthems predate this period, often existing as patriotic songs long before their designation as a national anthem.

If an anthem is defined as consisting of a melody and lyrics, then the oldest national anthem in use today is the national anthem of the Netherlands, the Wilhelmus. Written between 1568 and 1572 during the Flanders Revolt, it was already a popular hymn of the Orangist during the 17th century, although it would take until 1932 for it to be officially recognized as the Dutch national anthem. The words of the Japanese national anthem, Kimigayo, predate the Dutch anthem by several centuries, being taken from a poem by Heian period (794-1185), but it was not set to music until 1880. If a national anthem is defined as 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 1920 Olympic Charter introduced the ritual of playing the national anthems of gold medal winners. From that point on, the performance of national anthems became increasingly popular at international sporting events, creating an incentive for nations that did not yet have an officially defined national anthem to introduce one.

The United States introduced the patriotic song The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem in 1931. After this, several nations went on to adopt as their official national anthem patriotic songs that had already been used de facto in official acts, such as Mexico (Mexicanos, al grito de guerra, composed in 1854, adopted in 1943) and Switzerland ("Swiss Psalm", composed 1841, de facto use since 1961, adopted 1981).

In the period of decolonization, in the 1960s, it became standard practice for newly independent nations to adopt an official national anthem. Some of these anthems were specifically commissioned, such as the Kenyan anthem, Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu, produced by a "Anthem Commission of Kenya" in 1963.

Several nations still do not have an official national anthem. In these cases, there are de facto established anthems that are played at sporting events or diplomatic receptions. These include the United Kingdom (God Save the King) and Sweden (Du gamla, Du fria). Among the countries that have officially adopted their old anthems de facto since the 1990s are: Luxembourg (Ons Hémécht, adopted 1993), South Africa (South African National Anthem, adopted 1997), Israel (Hatikvah, composed 1888, de facto use since 1948, adopted in 2004), Italy (Il Canto degli Italiani, adopted in 2017).

Official national anthems

The oldest official National Anthems in the world are:

N.o	Country	Name	Year of creation
1.o	United KingdomUnited Kingdom	God Save the King	1745
2.	SpainSpain	Real March	1770
3.°	DenmarkDenmark	Kong Kristian	1778
4.o	United States	The Star-Spangled Banner	1780
5.o	France	The Marsellesa	1792
6.°	GermanyGermany	Deutschlandlied	1797
7.	PolandPoland	Mazurek Dąbrowskiego	1797

The anthem of the Netherlands, entitled Wilhelmus, is undoubtedly the oldest in the world for which a score exists, dating from 1568. Curiously, this anthem comes from a soldier's song whose lyrics make reference to Prince William, who fled from the Netherlands to Nassau in 1567 with several thousand other opponents of Spanish rule. The verses detail his opposition to the king of Spain at that time, Felipe II, to whom he swore allegiance. Although the Wilhelmus was played at many patriotic events in the Netherlands throughout its history, it was not the country's official anthem until May 10, 1932. Unlike most national anthems that refer to the country, this anthem refers to the monarch.

National anthems flourished in Europe in a musical style typical of the 19th century, which was used in the creation of new hymns. Even in Africa and Asia, where Western orchestral music did not proliferate, their national anthems acquired the same musical genre. Only in those countries where there was no European colonialism, their characteristic styles remained, such as Japan, with its national anthem Kimi Ga Yo, Iran, Sri Lanka and Burma.

Most national anthems are military marches or lyrics. The Latin American countries tend to have a lyrical style, while a large part of the countries use marches. Due to their brevity and relative simplicity, many national anthems have little musical complexity.

The countries whose national anthems were composed by illustrious musicians are:

• Germany: Franz Joseph Haydn
• Austria: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Bangladesh: Rabindranath Tagore
• Vatican City: Charles Gounod
• India: Rabindranath Tagore
• Norway: Rikard Nordraak
• Singapore: Zubir Said

Some national anthems are sung at fairs or parties and have also come to establish a strong relationship with sporting events, such as the Olympic Games. In official football matches, the anthem is sung before kick-off, usually in reduced versions.

In some countries, the anthem is played every day, before classes begin in schools, and in others it is performed before a play or a film performance; in some countries it is even performed in religious contexts (for example, in processions). Certain television channels use the national anthem to start and end their daily programming.

In general, the first stanza is interpreted exclusively, except in the cases of Ecuador, which uses the second; Germany, who plays the third; Chile, who interprets the fifth; Peru, which has played the seventh since 2009; Slovenia and Honduras, who interpret the seventh. Some national anthems lack words and are composed only of melody, the best-known case being that of Spain, whose Royal March or Granadera March is a military march from the time of Charles III.

There are many countries where there are unofficial anthems, whether they are the royal anthem, the presidential anthem, a historical anthem, or even the anthem of an officially recognized region of the country. For example, the anthem of the Azores or that of Madeira in the case of Portugal.

The only nation without its own national anthem is Cyprus, which after independence in 1960 adopted that of Greece. There are also nations that share the same music for their national anthem:

• Russia and Soviet Union, sharing the same music but with different words (Russian national hymn).
• Estonia and Finland.
• Liechtenstein and United Kingdom (God Save the King).
• Poland and the ancient Yugoslavia. The music of the hymns of the two nations was slightly different; the text of the Polish anthem was written in July 1797 by Józef Wybicki.