France made La Marseillaise the first official anthem
National anthems are patriotic songs celebrating a country's history, usually written as marches or hymns. Royal anthems came first—God Save the King was first performed in 1619—but in 1795 the French First Republic decreed La Marseillaise its anthem, the first official national anthem anywhere.
Several monarchies kept their royal songs. Spain's Marcha Real became the crown's anthem in 1770 and the national one in 1939, and Denmark still pairs a 1780 royal anthem with a national song adopted in 1835. Some old tunes waited centuries for official status: Japan's Kimigayo takes its words from a Heian-era poem but was set to music only in 1880, and the Dutch Wilhelmus, dating to the sixteenth century, was formally adopted in 1932.
Newly independent states led the way in the nineteenth century, with Argentina in 1813, Belgium in 1830 and Brazil in 1831, followed later by Greece, Portugal, Lithuania, Ireland and others. Italy's case is tangled. Goffredo Mameli and Michele Novaro wrote Il Canto degli Italiani in 1847, and it thrilled the unification movement, but its republican flavour clashed with the new monarchy, which used the House of Savoy's Royal March instead. The republic adopted the song provisionally in 1946 and made it official only on 4 December 2017.
Sport spread the habit. Wales sang its anthem before a 1905 rugby match against New Zealand, the 1920 Olympic Charter began playing winners' anthems at medal ceremonies, and baseball adopted pre-game anthems during World War II. The United States made The Star-Spangled Banner official in 1931; Kenya commissioned its anthem through a dedicated commission in 1963. Britain and Sweden still lack de jure anthems, while Israel formally adopted Hatikvah, composed in 1888, only in 2004.
Rules vary widely. Colombian public broadcasters must play the anthem at 6:00 and 18:00, and Thailand plays its anthem nationwide at 08:00 and 18:00. Taiwan, competing as Chinese Taipei since 1979, uses its National Banner Song at the Olympics instead.
Source: National anthem
