today's Featured List/June 6, 2014
Most national anthems are either marches or hymns in style.
The first national anthem to be composed was the Dutch national anthem "Wilhelmus", which was written between 1568 and 1572. The first anthem to be officially adopted as such was the Spanish anthem "Marcha Real" in 1770. The French anthem "La Marseillaise" (first performance pictured) was written soon after in 1792 and adopted in 1795. National anthems are usually written in the most common language of the state, whether de facto or official. For example, India's anthem "Jana Gana Mana" is written in a Sanskritized version of Bengali, and Sanskrit and Bengali are both official languages of India. The New Zealand national anthem "God Defend New Zealand" is traditionally sung with the first verse in Māori and the second in English. South Africa's national anthem is unique in that five of the eleven official languages are used in the same anthem, in which each language comprises a stanza. (Full list...)
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