EUROPEAN UNION NATIONAL ANTHEMS

Christos LoucaidesConstantinos Avraamides

BELGIUM

There are 5 versions of the national anthem of Belgium in different languages like French, Dutch and German:The First version (end of August 1830)The Second version (end of September 1830)The Third version (1860)The Walloon version (“Li Braibançone”)

The Fifth version is the version that is being used now and is called “Brabançonne”.

The Brabançonne has the same music melody as the initial versions which was written by François Van Campenhout in 1830, during the Belgian Revolution, and its current text was written by Charles Rogier and Leo Goemans in 1921.

BrabançonneFrench English

Ô Belgique, ô mère chérie,

À toi nos cœurs, à toi nos bras,

À toi notre sang, ô Patrie !

Nous le jurons tous, tu vivras !

Tu vivras toujours grande et belle

Et ton invincible unité

Aura pour devise immortelle :

Le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté !

Aura pour devise immortelle :

Le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté !

Le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté !

Le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté !

O Belgium - O mother dear -

To you we stretch our hearts

and arms,

With blood to spill for you, O

fatherland!

We swear with one cry - You

shall live!

You shall live, so great and

beautiful,

And your invincible unity

Shall have for device immortal -

The King, and Law, and Liberty!

Shall have for device immortal -

The King, and Law, and Liberty!

The King, and Law, and Liberty!

The King, and Law, and Liberty!

Croatia

The national anthem of Croatia is “Lijepa naša domovino” (Our Beautiful Homeland).

The original lyrics were written by Antun Mihanović and first published under the title ”Horvatska domovina” (Croatian homeland) in 1835.

The music was written by amateur Josip Runjanin in 1846. The song became the official anthem of Croatia through

amendments of the Constitution of Croatia adopted by the parliament of Croatia on 29 February 1972.

The song originally consisted of fourteen verses but today, only verses one, two, thirteen, and fourteen are part of the national anthem.

Lijepa naša domovino – Our Beautiful Homeland

English

Drava, Sava, keep on flowing,

Danube, do not lose your vigour,

Deep blue sea, tell the world,

That a Croat loves his homeland.

Whilst his fields are kissed by sunshine,

Whilst his oaks are whipped by wild winds,

Whilst his dead are sheltered by land,

Whilst his live heart beats.

Our beautiful homeland,

O so fearless and gracious.

Our fathers' ancient glory,

May you be happy for whole eternity.

Dear, you are our only glory,

Dear, you are our only one,

Dear, where you are plains,

Dear, where you are mountains.

Portugal

"A Portuguesa" ("The Portuguese") is the National Anthem of Portugal.

It was composed by Alfredo Keil and written by Henrique Lopes de Mendonça in 1890 and it was used as the marching song of the republican rebellion of January 1891 in Porto.

It was adopted as the national anthem of the newborn Portuguese Republic in 1911.

In 1956, the Portuguese Government created a committee to define an official version because there were different versions of the anthem. On 16 July 1957, the current version was proposed, and it was approved by the Council of Ministers.

A PortuguesaEnglish

Heroes of the sea, noble people,

Brave and immortal nation,

Raise once again today,

The splendour of Portugal!

Among the haze of memory,

h Fatherland, one feels the voice

Of your distinguished forefathers,

That shall lead you to victory!

To arms, to arms!

Over land, over sea,

To arms, to arms!

For the Fatherland, fight!

Against the cannons, march on, march on!