National Anthems

	National Anthems

I have decided to do a new Friday series on national anthems of different countries, but first we will start with this.

The Netherlands has the oldest national anthem in use today, Wilhelmus van Nassouwe, also known as Wilhelmus. It was written between 1568 and 1572 during the Dutch Revolt, but it wasn’t officially adopted until 1932. 

Anthems were originally devotional verses sung during religious services. One of the first songs to be called a “national anthem” was Great Britain’s “God Save the King”. 

Here are some other facts about national anthems:

• Most national anthems are either hymns or marches.
• Anthems are usually in the country’s national or most common language.
• Some countries have multiple versions of their anthem if they have more than one national language. For example, Switzerland’s national anthem, the Swiss Psalm, has different lyrics for each of the country’s four official languages.
• Some national anthems were written by famous composers. For example, Germany’s Das Lied der Deutschen uses a melody written by Joseph Haydn. 

I will start with the first country next week.