Countries with similar National Anthems

Countries with the same anthem?

The variety of anthems is really unique. Each country has a song that tries to represent its national identity in one song. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, national anthems vary greatly in musical merit, and the verse or text, like the music, has not in every case been written by a national of the country concerned. Also, there are some cases in which specific anthems have certain things in common. In this post we will take a look at various examples of national anthems which share many characteristics.

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The Same Anthem

Greece and Cyprus: Both countries use exactly the same national anthem, Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν. The music was composed by Nikolaos Mantzaros and the lyrics written by Dionysios Solomos. It was adopted by Greece in 1865, and 1966 by Cyprus.

 

 

Turkey and Northern Cyprus: Although the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is only recognised by Turkey, both countries share the same national anthem: İstiklal Marşı. The music was created by Osman Zeki Üngör in 1930 but was subject to a harmonization process made by Edgar Manas under orders of the Turkish government. The lyrics were written by Mehmet Akif Ersoy in 1921 (by then, a different melody was used). In 1983 it also became the national anthem of Northern Cyprus.

 

Similar Melody

Finland and Estonia: In 1848, Fredrik Pacius composed the melody for “Maame”, the Finnish National Anthem. The lyrics were composed in the same year by Johan Ludvig Runeberg. Years later, Johann Voldemar Jannsen composed the lyrics for the Estonian national anthem and used the melody created by Pacius in 1848. The only difference between the two anthems in terms of music is the key in which they are performed and the repetition of the last verse in “Maame”.

 

South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia: The three share the same melody composed by Enoch Sontonga called "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika". However, in the case of South Africa, this melody is only a part of the full national anthem which combines this song with the former national anthem of the country, "Die Stem van Suid Afrika" (composed in 1921 by Marthinus Lourens de Villiers).

What differences the national anthems of these three countries is that Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika is sung in English in Zambia, Swahili in Tanzania, and the South Africa version uses three languages during the three verses first two verses (Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho).

 

Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire: The current national anthem of Germany (“Das Lied der Deutschen”) uses the melody of “Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser” which was composed by Joseph Haydn in 1797 as a birthday gift for Emperor Francis II of the Holy German Empire. The melody has been used since then by Austria, Austria-Hungary, the German Empire, and current day Germany. Nevertheless, the song has had many lyrics. The current lyrics were written by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in 1841 and only the third stanza is used today.

 

 

Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom: These three countries share the melody of one of the oldest anthems ever adopted. God Save the Queen/King was a traditional song revived in 1745 during Bonnie Prince Charlie's invasion to restore the Stuart throne. It did not take long for the invasion to be defeated, but God Save the King kept being sung for decades afterwards to the point that other monarchs started thinking they needed an anthem like it (BBC, 2015).

It is not known who created the melody or the lyrics of the British national anthem. In the case of Liechtenstein, the lyrics were written by Jakob Josef Lauch in the early 1850s.

 

The UK and "a large list of countries": The melody of God Save the Queen/King has been used by a large list of countries as a national anthem or as a royal anthem. This list includes countries which used the melody in certain years of their history like the German Empire, Russia, France, Switzerland, and others. In New Zealand it is one of the two official national anthems of the country along with “God Defend New Zealand”. The melody is also used as the royal anthem of Norway called “Kongesangen”. This anthem is also the royal anthem of several of the Commonwealth nations such as Canada, Australia,  Jamaica, the Solomon Islands, etc.

 

 

Similar Structure

The National Anthem of the Soviet Union and the State Anthem of the Soviet Republics: After the adoption of the anthem composed by Alexander Alexandrov in 1944, each Soviet republic was allowed to have their own State anthem. The melody composed by Alexandrov is based on the "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" and the song "Life Has Become Better” and consists of a structure of Stanza + Chorus repeated three times. This same structure was used by the composers of the several State anthems of the Soviet Republics. However, in terms of lyrics, the Georgian SSR State Anthem did not have the same lyrics in each Chorus section. And in terms of melody, the State Anthem of the Moldovan SSR was modified somewhere between the 1970s by Eduard Lazarev, who changed the structure completely (you can read more about this here).

Some of the current independent countries that formed the USSR still use the melody of their State Anthems as Soviet Republics. In the case of Kyrgyzstan, a new anthem was created following the same structure of the Kirghiz SSR State Anthem. In fact, the ending of both anthems is almost the same.

 

 

Southern Cone Countries: The anthems of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay are not equal in many ways. Nevertheless, they share a common structure of a long introduction, followed by a stanza and then a chorus in which the last line is repeated several times. However, in the case of the Uruguayan National Anthem, the structure is inverted (the chorus goes first after the introduction).

Apart from this, there are two curious details that are worth mentioning:

• During the early stages of the independence, the lyrics of the first national anthem of Chile (written by Bernardo de Vera y Pintado) was sung using the melody of the Argentine national anthem (composed by Blas Parera), as an own melody was yet to be created. This brotherhood between the two anthems can be noticed especially in the chorus of the national anthem of Chile, which is still the same even after the new lyrics written by Eusebio Lillo were adopted.
• Francisco Acuña de Figueroa, a Uruguayan poet, was the author of the lyrics of the national anthem of both Uruguay and Paraguay.

 

 

Chile and Bolivia: The national anthems of Chile and Bolivia are almost exactly the same in terms of structure. In fact, you could try to sing the lyrics of one anthem with the melody of the other. The reasons of these similarities are not clear even today. However, sources confirm that the melody of the Chilean anthem was created in 1828 by Ramon Carnicer, and the melody of the Bolivian anthem was created in 1845. Evidence suggest that the composer of the Bolivian anthem, Leopoldo Benedetto Vincenti, was inspired by Carnicer's melody, as he lived in Chile several years and worked in the Music Band of the Chilean Army, which used to play the melody composed by Carnicer.

 

As you can see, the world of anthems is very fascinating!

It is very entertaining to take a moment to listen to them and note their unique features...

Do you know other anthems that share similarities like these? Tell us in the comments down bellow!

REFERENCES:
BBC. (2015). How many national anthems are plagiarised? Obtenido de BBC Magazine: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34052000
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2016). National anthem. Obtenido de Encyclopædia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/national-anthem