Bože Pravde

"Bože pravde" was adopted in 1882 and had been the national anthem of the Kingdom of Serbia until 1919 when Serbia became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was re-adopted as the national anthem at first by the parliamentary recommendation in 2004 and then constitutionally sanctioned in 2006, after Serbia restored its independence.

Bože pravde
Боже правде

English: God of Justice
National anthem of Serbia
Also known as	Srpska nacionalna molitva (English: Serbian National Prayer)
Lyrics	Jovan Đorđević, 1872
Music	Davorin Jenko, 1872
Adopted	1882 1991 (Republic of Serbian Krajina) 1992 (Republika Srpska)
Readopted	2004
Relinquished	1919 (partially) 1945 (fully) 1995 (Republic of Serbian Krajina) 2008 (Republika Srpska)
Audio sample
U.S. Navy Band instrumental version (two verses) file help

After the assassination of Prince Mihailo, Milan Obrenović came to the throne in 1872, celebrating his coming of age. Then he ordered a play from the manager of the National Theater in Belgrade, Jovan Đorđević, who quickly wrote and presented the play "Marko names the Emperor" (Marko kazuje na kome je carstvo), with the aim of glorifying Serbian history and the Obrenović dynasty, and song "God of justice" (Bože pravde), composed by Davorin Jenko. Song gained more popularity among the people than the piece itself, and in 1882, on the occasion of Milan's enthronement as Serbian king, Đorđević reworked the text and so his new version became the first official anthem of Serbia. In 1903, after the May Coup, the Obrenović dynasty died out and the Karađorđevićs came to the helm of Serbia. The new Serbian king Peter I wanted to change the state symbols, even the anthem. The Austrian composer from Vienna, August Stol, composed a song for the Serbian king. Peter did not like the composition. Various competitions in which many Serbian poets (Aleksa Šantić among others) participated were also unsuccessful. In the end, in 1909, it was decided to make the anthem Bože pravde official again, with minor changes to the text.

Various rulers of Serbia changed the words of the anthem to suit them. During the rule of Prince Milan I of Serbia, the words were "God, save Prince Milan" (knez Milana Bože spasi), which changed to God, save King Milan (kralj Milana Bože spasi) when Serbia became a kingdom. Later it was tailored to Alexander I ("God, save King Alexander"; kralja Aleksandra Bože spasi) and Peter I ("God, save King Peter"; kralja Petra Bože spasi) as well. During the World War I, in the territories of Serbia occupied by Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, the performance of the national anthem, as well as the display of the symbols of the Kingdom of Serbia, was prohibited. During the time of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which later became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), "Bože pravde" was part of its national anthem. On the eve of the World War II, at the great international gathering of the Music Confederation, held in Paris, this anthem was declared one of the three most beautiful in the world.

"Bože pravde" anthem was officially abandoned and banned after the World War II in 1945, in favour of "Hey, Slavs" (under its Serbo-Croatian title Hej, Sloveni), which was the national anthem of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for 47 years, from 1945 to 1992. After the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991-1992, only Serbia and Montenegro remained in the federation i.e. the newly-formed Serbia and Montenegro, but since no agreement over the anthem could be reached, "Hey, Slavs" remained the national anthem. Many Serbs disliked the song during this period and booed it whenever it was played, such as at sporting events.

In 1992, "Vostani Serbije" and "March on the Drina" were proposed as the anthem of Serbia along with "Bоže pravde". "March on the Drina", popularized by then-ruling Socialist Party of Serbia, even received a plurality of popular vote on referendum, but was never officially adopted.

The recommendation on the use of "Bože pravde" was adopted unanimously by the National Assembly in 2004 and constitutionally sanctioned in 2006, after Serbia restored its independence, while the recommended text was promulgated into the law in 2009. It utilizes slightly modified original lyrics, asserting that Serbia is no longer a monarchy — all the verses that had a monarchist overtone were changed. In three verses, "Serbian king" (srpskog kralja) is changed to "Serbian lands" (srpske zemlje) and in one, "God save the Serbian king" (srpskog kralja Bože hrani, literally "The Serbian king, O God, bless") is changed to "O God, save; O God, defend" (Bože spasi, Bože brani). In public performances, verse "God, protect, God bless/Serbian lands and Serbian race" are often sung on the repeat as "Our Serbia, God defend/Our whole race prays to you" (Srbiju nam Bože brani/moli ti se sаv naš rod).

"Bože pravde" was also used until 2006 as the regional anthem of the Republika Srpska, a constituency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, when it was ruled down by the country's constitutional court for being unconstitutional.

The full Serbian national anthem as officially defined consists of eight stanzas, but usually only the first two are performed on public occasions for reasons of brevity. The third verse is also usually omitted in full performances.

• National symbols of Serbia
• List of Serbian anthems