The national anthem of every country is built on the same base. About how a country gained its freedom or how the freedom fighters sacrificed their lives to hoe beautiful and enriched the country now is. Almost every country’s national anthem sounds same and creates the same ripples in the citizen’s hearts. But, little do we know that every anthem has a story behind its origin. Here, we bring you 8 such countries, whose national anthems have interesting stories behind them. Read on to find out!
1. St. Helena- Never Been There!
St. Helena officially comes under Britain, but it has its own national anthem. The surprising yet funny part about this anthem is that it is written by an American guy named David Mitchell who is from America and has never been to St. Helena ever!
2. Andorra- First Person Narrator
Generally, all anthems talk about the history of the country and how it was found. But, Andorra’s national anthem is written in the first person and refers to an ‘I’.
3. France- Describes A Bloodbath
The national anthems may talk about the battles and wars their soldiers bravely fought, but it never describes the situations they went through. France’s national anthem depicts how the soldier’s throats were cut and how the flags were drenched in blood.
4. United States- Not The Final One
The national anthem of the US was not finalized until 1931. They used many different anthems till then but finally chose ‘star spangled banner’ as the final one.
5. Malaysia- Then And There!
The national anthem of Malaysia has the most interesting story behind its existence. The sultans invited Queen Victoria in the year 1888. So, the sultan wanted to play an anthem at her entry. Till the date she was about to come, they did not have an anthem prepared, so the sultan started humming a famous tune and added lyrics to it. It was so on spot and accurate that the Queen could not sense anything fishy. The anthem was then used as the national anthem until recent changes.
6. Mexico- Just Because Of His Girlfriend
Mexico held a competition for writing the national anthem in the year 1853. A poet Francisco was not willing to participate but his girlfriend forced him to do so. At last, she took him to a room and locked him until he came up with a very good poem depicting the history of Mexico. Surprisingly, the poem he wrote got selected and became the national anthem of Mexico.
7. Netherlands- Fun With Words
In 1932, Netherlands commenced its official national anthem, but it existed for around 300 years before that. The 15- line lyrics formed an acrostic. The initial letter of each line spelled the name Willen Van, who was a hero in the history of Netherlands.
8. Cook Islands- Making It Together
The national anthem of Cook Islands was written by a couple residing there. It was adopted in the eighties. Sir Thomas Davis, who was the Prime Minister at that time, was the composer of its music.
9. South Africa- Mix It Up
In the year 1997, two different melodies were merged together to form the national anthem for South Africa. The national anthem consists of total 5 languages.
10. The Czech Republic And Slovakia
The national anthem of Czechoslovakia was formed by the mixture of the Slovak folk song and Czech opera. But when the country divided in 1993, thy divided their anthem just like a pizza.
Every invention has a story behind it, even the invention of national anthems! There are many countries which has so many weird laws, check them out here.