FLAGS in National Anthems and Patriotic Songs, Part V

Most national anthems are not distinguished either for literary merit or musical quality. The overall aim is to place a patriotic poetic concept in a suitably dignified or stirring musical setting, so says Ronald L. Eisenberg (The American Philatelist, August 1995).
In order to proceed in alphabetical order, today I shall present "Flags mentioned in the anthems/ patriotic songs" of countries beginning with G and H.

GABON

"La Concorde" is the national anthem of Gabon. Written and composed by  Georges  Damas Aleka . Adopted in 1960.The last two lines and the chorus  of ‘La pera de la Concorde’ read;

Around this flag which leads us to honour,

Let us salute the Fatherland and ever sing!

The stamp above has the scores of La Concorde and the effigy of  Georges D. Aleka,  issued to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of Gabon’s independence in 1985.

GEORGIA

The State Anthem of the erstwhile Georgian SSR used from 1946 to 1991.The anthem inscribed the Soviet period banner: 

“The Soviet banner, shining as the sun,

Is fluttering over you;

Blossom, our beautiful country,

Exult, the Georgian land”.

 The music was composed by Otar Taktakishvili, and the words were written by Grigol Abashidze and Alexander Abasheli. All three stanzas  in the original lyrics had references to Joseph Stalin, a native Georgian and leader of the Soviet Union . These words were completely removed after Stalin's death.

GERMANY (3rd Reich)

The Horst-Wessel-Lied (Horst Wessel Song), also known as Die Fahne hoch (The Flag Up High), was the marching song of the Nazi Party from 1930 till it was declared "out-lawed" by the Allies Forces in 1945. From 1933 to 1945 it was the national anthem of the 3^rd Reich, usually sung along with the first stanza of Deutschlandlied. This combined version was known as the "Lieder der Nation" (Song of the Nation).

The flag high! The ranks tightly closed!

 SA* march with calm, firm steps.

Comrades shot by the Red front and reactionaries

March in spirit in our ranks.

Clear the streets for the brown battalions,

Clear the streets for the storm troopers!

Already millions look with hope to the Swastika

The day of freedom and bread is dawning!

Roll call has sounded for the last time

We are all already prepared for the fight!

Soon Hitler's flag will fly over all streets.

Our servitude will soon end!

The flag high! The ranks tightly closed!

SA marches with a calm, firm pace.

Comrades shot by the Red Front and reactionaries

March in spirit in our ranks.

 According to regulation of  Hitler’s regime required the right arm to be raised in a "Nazi Salute" when the first and fourth verses were sung. Note;  SA  stands for Sturm Abteilung (also known as Storm troopers or Brown shirts)

   GUATEMALA

     The Himno Nacional de Guatemala was written by José Joaquín Palma and composed by Rafael Álvarez Ovalle. Adopted in 1896 as the winning entry in a competition held by the government. The lyrics were modified in 1934 by Prof. Jose Maria Bonilla Ruano.

            Libre al viento tu hermosa bandera

           Fairest flag, in the wind freely floating,

            You invoke us to conquer or die,

           For your sons most courageously noting your proud symbol,

            Will bondage defy.

            Another translation

Free into the wind, your beautiful flag

To victory or death it will call

Since your people, with fiery soul

Will be dead before enslaved.

 GUINEA-BISSAU

"Esta é a Nossa Pátria Bem Amada" (This Is Our Beloved Country) is the natinoal anthem of Guinea-Bissau. Written and composed by Amilcar Cabral, adopted in 1974.

The banner of our struggle

Has fluttered in the sky.

 It was also the national anthem of Cape Verde until 1996, when a new anthem (Cântico da Liberdade) was chosen by Cape Verde.

HAITI

Haiti is one of the few countries whose anthem glorifies a national hero and has flag reference, 

 “La Dessalinienne”  honoring Jean-Jacques Dessalines, founder of Haiti as an independent republic in 1803. It was written by Justin Lhérisson and composed by Nicolas Geffrard and adopted in 1904. 

In the fifth verse states;

              “ For flag on high, for native land,

              ‘tis fine to die.

               Our traditions demand be ready, heart and hand;

               ‘tis fine to die,

                 ‘tis fine to die for flag on high, for native land.”

HONDURAS

The “Himno Nacional de Honduras” was adopted 1915^. The lyrics were written by Augusto Constancio Coello and the music composed by Carlos Hartling.

 The anthem commences “Tu bandera, tu bandera es un lampo de ceilo” (has been variously translated as “Your flag, your flag is a lamp in the sky”, or “Oh! Your flag waves, like a symbol in heaven”, or “Your banner, your banner is splendor from heaven”, or “Lo, the banner of this country has the splendor of heavens” and “As your standard, as your standard serves a strip of cloudless azure”) and continues;  “Which in twain is cut, which in twain is cut by a band that shows besprinkle; in whose sacred abuses there twinkle five pale stars with softest rays blue”. The stars represent the five Central American Republics (including Honduras)  that formed a Union in the early 1800s.

(To be continued)

FLAGS in National Anthems and Patriotic Songs, Part IV (France)

Early national anthems flattered rulers of nations rather than the nations themselves. 

 The French Revolution produced the first “people’s anthem in 1792.

"La Marseillaise"(The song of Marseilles) is the national anthem of France, it was written and composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, in 1792. The name of the song originally was Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin (War Song for the Army of the Rhine).

The second verse of three mentions the "Tricolore"(The French National Flag) where it asserts “Soon thy sons shall be victorious, when our banners high are raised,” while the first verse refers to “ the bloody standard of tyranny.”
The song was adopted in 1795 as the nation's anthem, banned in 1799 and restored in1879.  La Marseillaise have led to its use as a revolutionary anthem during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as, to the inspiration of many pieces of classical music and popular culture. In 1871, it was adopted as its marching song by the Paris Commune.

 “Liberty leading the People” by Eugène Delacroix (1830), which celebrates the July Revolution (Louvre Museum).

(To be continued)

FLAGS in National Anthems and Patriotic Songs, Part III

Many National Anthems and Patriotic Songs have/had in the text "Flag reference", but only a few have been found space in postage stamps and/or on other philatelic items. Stamps depicting National Flag is not that difficult  to find but combination of  "National Anthem and Flag " is very seldom found. I am  therefore, constrained to put at many places only the "Flag  on stamp" .

Anguilla

"God Bless Anguilla" Words & Music by: Alex Richardson Adopted: 1981

 

 “….Let truth and right
our banner be
We'll march ever on…”

 Azores

The "Hino dos Açores" (Hymn of the Azores). The original song was composed by Joaquim Lima circa 1890s. Azorean poetess Natália de Oliveira Correia composed the lyrics for the anthem adopted in 1980.

 “.... Ahead! In communion,
For our Autonomy.
Liberty, justice and reason
Are lit up in the lightning
Of the Flag that guides us”

The Comoros

"Udzima wa ya Masiwa" (The Union of the Great Islands) the anthem adopted in 1978. Words by Saïd Hachim Sidi Abdérémane Music by Saïd Hachim Sidi Abdérémane and Kamildine Abdallah

  State of Comoros (1976-1978):Federal & Islamic

Republic (!978 - 1992): New Flag adopted in 2008

 The flag is flying,
Announcing complete independence;
The nation rises up
Because of the faith we have
In this our Comoria….
The flag is flying.
From the Sixth of July
The Nation rises up;

 Kampuchia (Cambodia)

Dap Prampi Mesa Chokchey, (Glorious Seventeenth of April) was the national anthem of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 to 1979.

  Hurrah for the new Kampuchea,
A splendid, democratic land of plenty!
We guarantee to raise aloft and wave the Red Banner of the revolution.
We shall make our motherland prosperous beyond all others,
Magnificent, wonderful!

  Dominican Republic.

Quisqueyanos Valientes (Valiant Quisqueyans) is the national anthem of the Dominican Republic. Its music was composed by José Rufino Reyes Siancas, and its lyrics were written by Emilio Prud 'homme

The song

begins with;  “Valiant Quisqueyanos, let us raise …. Let our banner be displayed in its glory, with unvanquished glory”, and goes on : “let's show to the face of the world our undefeated, glorious flag…….and if an unattended leader the splendor of these glorious events could ignore, One has seen in Capotillo in the war. The flag of fire wave……..And the fire that lets the proud lion Of Castilla become stupefied, removes him from the glorious beaches where the crossed banner waves.

Djibouti (Former French Somaliland)

The Djibouti national anthem was adopted upon independence in 1977. Written by Aden Elmi. The melody was composed by Abdi Robleh.

 

 Arise with strength! For we have raised our flag,

The flag which has cost us dear

With extremes of thirst and pain.

Our flag, whose colours are the everlasting green of the earth,

The blue of the sky, and white, the colour of peace;

And in the centre the red star of blood.

Oh flag of ours, what a glorious sight!

 

El Salvador

"Himno Nacional de El Salvador written by General Juan José Cañas with music composed by the Italian Juan Aberle in 1856, adopted in 1879, and officially recognized by the government on December 11, 1953.

“Our defense lies where strong iron is shielding,

Firm against beaches of faith and all shame,

Since the day when our country unyielding

Wrote in blood on our flag  freedom’s name”.

(To be Continued)

FLAGS in National Anthems and Patriotic Songs, Part II

In continuation with my earlier Post titled "Flags in National Anthems and Patriotic Songs (Commonwealth Member Countries)", I shall endeavor to present here and in subsequent issues "Anthems and Patriotic Songs" from rest of the world which contains reference to "Flags" and are also found space in the field of Philately.

Antigua and Barbuda (Members of the Commonwealth Group of Nations)

"Fair Antigua, We Salute Thee" is the the national Anthem of Antigua and Barbuda,  penned by Novelle Hamilton Richards and composed by Walter Garnet Picart Chambers, it was adopted upon independence in 1967.


The anthem extolled:
“Fair Antigua and Barbuda We thy sons and daughters …. Raise the

standard! Raise it boldly! Answer now to duty call: To the service of 

your country....”

Albania  

Himni i Flamurit (Hymn to the Flag) is the national anthem of Albania. Penned by Asdreni (Aleksandër Stavre Drenova). It was first published in 1912 as a poem titled Ëndra e lotë (Dreams and tears) in the  Liri e Shqipërisë (Freedom of Albania), a newspaper published from in Sofia, Bulgaria. The music was composed by the  Romanian composer Ciprian  Porumbescu.

“Rreth flamurit perbashkuar” (The flag in the battle unites us) and continues “found us all ready for the oath, one mind, one aim, until our land becomes free from enemy”

Algeria

Qassam (We Swear) is the national anthem of Algeria. Adopted in 1963. The lyrics by Mufdi Zakariah. The music was composed by Mohamed Fawzi, of Egypt.
  The Anthem commences “We swear by the lightning that destroys … By the streams of generous blood  being shed, by bright flags that wave, flying proudly on the high djebel (mountain)”

Armenia

"Mer Hayrenik" (Our Fatherland) , the Armenian Anthem was adopted in1991, it is based on the anthem of the Democratic Republic of Armenia (1918-1922), but with different lyrics. The lyrics of the anthem is adapted version of "The Song of the Italian girl" by Mikael Nalbandian. Music was set by composer Barsegh Kanachyan (1885-1967).

Here is a flag for you, my brother,
That I have sewed
Over the sleepless nights,
And bathed in my tears.

Aruba

Aruba Dushi Tera (Aruba Precious Country ) written in Papiamento, is the  anthem of Aruba. It is a waltz written by Juan Chabaya Lampe and composed by Rufo Wever. It was adopted in 1976.

It contains:
“….Bo escudo y bandera ta
orguyo di nos tur!”
 translated  “….your coat of arms and flag is the proudness of our all!

Azerbaijan

Azərbaycan Marşı is the national anthem of Azerbaijan, the original title of which was March of Azerbaijan.  The words were written by the poet Ahmad Javad in 1918, and the music was composed by Azeri composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov The patriotic song was re-adopted as national anthem after the fall of Communist rule in 1990.

“….. To raise your banner,
And uphold your honor,
All the youth are eager.
Cherished land, Cherished land.
Azerbaijan! Azerbaijan!
In accordance with Azerbaijani law, there are no official translations of the anthem.(Source Wikipedia free library).

 The obverse of the Azerbaijani 5 manat banknote issued in 2006 depicts writers, poets, and books from Azerbaijan with an excerpt of the national anthem

Belarus

"My Belarusy" is the “State Anthem of the Republic of Belarus". The anthem was originally written  by Mikhas Klimkovich and adopted in 1955 for use in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. The music was composed by Niescier Sakałoŭski. After the collapse of the USSR new lyrics were written by Klimkovich and Uladzimir Karyzny in 2002. The lyrics of the anthem now sing the banner of victory, the banner of sunshine;
“Peoples’ friendship is peoples’ strength and
Our sacred sunlit way.
Fly proudly in the clear skies,
The banner of victory, the banner of sunshine!”

 Anthem of the Byelorussian SSR sung during Soviet period “….In struggles for freedom, in struggles for fate, We have gained our banner of victories. We were united by the name of Lenin The Party leads us in the quest to happiness Glory to the Party! Glory to the Motherland! Glory to you,Belarusian people”.

Belgium

The “Brabançonne” (Song of Brabant) is the anthem of Belgium. The anthem has a French, a Dutch and a German version. The song was written during the Belgian Revolution, by a young revolutionary named Jenneval. And underwent many changes, the present version was adapted in 1938.  The song was composed by François Van Campenhout .

The English translation of the French text reads as follows;
After centuries of slavery, Belgians arising from the tomb, Have gained by their courage Their name, rights and flag. And you proud sovereign hand, unconquerable people, shall blazon on your ancient banner: For King, and Law, and Liberty.

 

 “The Brabançonne” is also a monument (1930) by the sculptor Charles Samuel on the Surlet de Chokier square at Brussels. The monument contains partial lyrics of both the French and Dutch versions of the anthem.

Benin (Dahomey).

L'Aube Nouvelle (The New Dawn ) is the national anthem of Benin. Written and composed by Gilbert Jean Dagnon, adopted in 1960. The second verse of three intones;
When all around there blows a wind of anger and hate:
Citizen of Benin be proud, and in a calm spirit
Trusting in the future, behold your flag!
In the green you read hope of spring;
The red signifies the courage of your ancestors;
The yellow foretells the greatest treasures.

 The flag was adopted in 1959, abandoned in 1975 and re-introduced in 1990

 

Biafra.

 "Land of the Rising Sun" was the declared national anthem of the secessionist Nigerian state of Biafra. The tune was adopted from Sibelius' "Finlandia". (Note: It had no connection with  the Japanese anthem Kimi ga Yo)

 “…The waving standard which emboldens the free
Shall always be our flag of liberty….”

                                                          

Bolivia

Bolivianos, el Hado Propicio (A most Favorable Destiny) is the national anthem of Bolivia , adopted in 1845. José Ignacio de Sanjinés, a signer of both the Bolivian Declaration of Independence and the first Bolivian Constitution, wrote the lyrics. The music was composed by an Italian, Leopoldo Benedetto Vincenti.

 The second verse of three states
“her flung banners find glorious expression, we are free! Sons, whom mighty (Simon) Boliver shall call his own… If dishonoured their flag shall ever be.”

 Brazil

The Brazilian national anthem Hino Nacional Brasileiro was composed by Francisco Manuel da Silva in 1822 and lyrics by Osório Duque-Estrada written in 1909 has a flag related verse reading  “Brazil ! May thy Star-Sprinkled Banner of gold and green speak to us ever of peace… Brazil, when thy limpid skies so calmly smiling and serene the glory of the Southern Cross shines above."

 

Francisco Manuel da Silva

 

 Hino à Bandeira Nacional, is an hymn dedicated to the National flag. The lyrics were written by poet Olavo Bilac, and the music composed by Francisco Braga. It is  performed on November 19 (Flag Day). The English translations

Hail, precious banner of hope!

Hail, august symbol of peace! ....

In thy beauteous bosom portraits

This sky of purest blue,

The impaired greenness of these forests,

And the splendor of the Southern Cross.

…..

Hovers always the sacred flag,

Pavilion of justice and love!

                                                                                     

Central African Republic

"La Renaissance" (Rebirth) is the national anthem of the Central African Republic, Adopted in 1960. The words were written by the then Prime Minister, Barthélémy Boganda. The music was composed by Herbert Pepper, who also composed the national anthem of Senegal, "Pincez Tous vos Koras, Frappez les Balafons".

 To work! In order and dignity,
in the respect for rights and in unity,
Breaking poverty and tyranny,
Holding high the flag of the Fatherland.
There is also a version in the Sango language entitled "E Zingo"

Costa Rica

"Himno Nacional de Costa Rica" is the national anthem of Costa Rica. It was originally adopted in 1853, with the music composed by Manuel María Gutiérrez. Words penned by José María Zeledón Brenes were added in 1900.

Noble patria, tu hermosa bandera
expresión de tu vida nos da;
bajo el límpido azul de tu cielo
blanca y pura descansa la paz.

Translated;  “Noble country, thy beautiful banner is for us a symbol of thy life.”

Curaçao.

Himno di Kòrsou is the national anthem of Curaçao.

 The Flag theme is best summed up by the fifth stanza  which goes:
“….Our fatherland we demonstrate
honour and loyalty,
as we do to the flag
the union of our nation”.