National Anthems and changes in the Anthem(s) with the demise of Queen Elizabeth II
Manglu Balasubramanian
The only thing hogging the headlines in media (if not the entire world at least in Commonwealth and ex-commonwealth countries) is the passing away of Queen Elizabeth II. One of the consequences of her death is the change in the National Anthem of the United Kingdom. It changes from “God save the Queen” to “God save the King” as the current reigning monarch is now a male — King Charles III.
I have never traveled to the UK so honestly don’t know how they perceive their national anthem. However having lived in multiple countries in the Asia Pacific region and traveled to different parts of the world, I know a thing or two about National Anthem. Or so I thought!!
This article is about National Anthems adopted by various countries and what they portray. I also wanted to explore changes to the National Anthem of countries (be minor or radical changes) in the recent past.
Before we dive deep, I wanted to see if the term “National Anthem” is defined in some of the widely used (and possibly?) trusted sources.
These definitions don’t provide a great deal of info except that it is an official song and that it is used on public occasions.
1. Does every Country have a National Anthem?
It appears that nearly every country (a Sovereign State) has a National Anthem. There are references about Austria not having a national anthem however decent search reveals that it does have a National Anthem.
2. Do all National Anthems have lyrics?
It turns out that there are a handful of countries that have a National Anthem without any lyrics/words.
Spain, San Marino, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina have the honor of an anthem without lyrics!
“The next time you watch a soccer match involving Spain (or any of the countries mentioned above) and notice that the players are not exercising their vocal cords when their anthem is played you know the reason! - The lyrics aren’t there for them to sign along”
3. Are there countries that have multiple National Anthems?
There are a couple of countries that have more than one national Anthem
- New Zealand — 2 Anthems
- Denmark — 2 Anthems
Now comes the conundrum, What do I play when I have multiple National Anthems? Is there a protocol or do they play both anthems?
New Zealand has a protocol that is shown below
Using both anthems
You may use both anthems at the same occasion but usually the one that is most appropriate to the event is played or performed. Examples of where both are performed are occasions like the State Opening of Parliament, certain Government House receptions and church services, the national observance of Commonwealth Day and Anzac Day.
4. Do countries share their National Anthems?
This is a strange question. Anyone with a sane mind would think that the national anthem must be unique to a country and you don’t expect two sovereign nations to share their national anthems!
“Hymn to Liberty” is used as the National Anthem by both Greece and Cyprus. It is the National Anthem of Greece since 1864 and when Cyprus became a sovereign state, it chose to use Greece’s National Anthem as its Anthem.
5. Have countries changed their National Anthems? If yes, what are the reasons?
A number of countries have made changes to their National Anthems. Let’s look at some of the changes in the last 2–3 decades.
“Advance Australia Fair”, the Australian National Anthem, changed its second line in 2021. The change was made to reflect the country’s long indigenous history.
It is interesting to note that Australia’s National Anthem swung like a pendulum between the God Save the Queen and Advance Australia Fair for a few years!
1974–76: Advance Australia Fair
1976–1984: God Save the Queen
1984- Current Day: Advance Australia Fair (Trimmed Version!)
“O Canada,”, the Canadian national anthem, changed its lyrics to be more gender-neutral in early 2018.
“Sayaun Thunga Phulka” replaced “Shreeman Gambhir” as the Nepalese National Anthem in 2007. The new anthem reflected the move away from the monarchy which was enshrined and celebrated by the previous national Anthem (Shreeman Gambhir).
Now that Queen Elizabeth II has died, what are the changes to the National Anthem of the UK and/or other countries?
The Anthem of UK/Britain has changed with all references to Queen replaced with King. The pronouns “her” and “She” is replaced with “him” and “he”.
As New Zealand also uses this as one of its Anthems it becomes another country whose anthem is impacted by the demise of the Queen.
What should the National Anthem of a country ideally represent?
One would think that the anthem should represent/reflect/celebrate the beauty and unique features of the country — People, Culture, Traditions, History, and its natural wealth.
The construct of a nation/country/sovereign state is a man-made construct. Have we ever wondered why all of us can’t sing an anthem that celebrates each of us as equal citizens of this wonderful planet?
This reminds me of the song “yaadhum oore yaavarum kelir (யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளிர்)” penned by poet kaniyan poongundranar (கணியன் பூங்குன்றனார்) around 3,000 years ago in a Tamil classic Purananuru. This can be loosely translated in English as “I am a world citizen, every citizen is my own kith and kin”.
Maybe this can serve as the starting point for an anthem for all of us to get together and sing in unison!