Alternate National Anthems

USa could had picked The Battle Cry of Freedom as national anthem. Altough some lyrics probably should had changed.

Which parts?

I could see a US with a stronger Progressive movement adopting "America the Beautiful" as the national anthem.


West Germany might have kept "Ich hab' mich ergeben" which temporarily served as her anthem from 1949 to 1952:

 
When Australia had a competition for a new 'Anthem' and, some-how, some-how, OTL's rather prim effort beat the wondrous 'We Are One'...

Oh, I love that one. Makes me proud to be an Aussie. 'Advance Australia Fair' is decent, but the original version of it is way too British. The fact they had to cut half of it out to make a true Aussie anthem should rendered it ineligible to be Australia's national anthem.
 

HJ Tulp

Donor
For the Netherlands there is always Wien Neerlands Bloed which was actually the national anthem until 1932 but which was also a bit problematic: 'Whoever has Dutch blood flowing in their veins, Free of foreign blemishes'. It could very well be the anthem if the Netherlands is led by the NSB. Thing is, in any scenario where the Netherlands isn't a monarchy there will probably be a different anthem.
 
The "Hino da independência" was the brazilian original hymn, used until 1831 before being replaced with the modern one


I prefer it over the original, and I believe that a traditionalist government could have readopted this one if someone like the integralists got the power. Vargas could have done it too, but he prefer the actual one.
 
The Irish National Anthem "The Soldier's Song" is highly situational, based on the OTL events of the 1916 Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War. In a TL where, for instance, there was no WWI and Ireland achieved Home Rule (relatively) peacefully it definitely wouldn't be the national anthem and indeed would never be written at all.

When boyhood's fire was in my blood
I read of ancient freemen,
For Greece and Rome who bravely stood,
Three hundred men and three men;
And then I prayed I yet might see
Our fetters rent in twain,
And Ireland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!

A Nation once again,
A Nation once again,
And Ireland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!

And from that time, through wildest woe,
That hope has shone a far light,
Nor could love's brightest summer glow
Outshine that solemn starlight;
It seemed to watch above my head
In forum, field and fane,
Its angel voice sang round my bed,
A Nation once again!

A Nation once again,
A Nation once again,
And Ireland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!

It whisper'd too, that freedom's ark
And service high and holy,
Would be profaned by feelings dark
And passions vain or lowly;
For, Freedom comes from God's right hand,
And needs a Godly train;
And righteous men must make our land
A Nation once again!

A Nation once again,
A Nation once again,
And Ireland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!

So, as I grew from boy to man,
I bent me to that bidding
My spirit of each selfish plan
And cruel passion ridding;
For, thus I hoped some day to aid,
Oh, can such hope be vain?
When my dear country shall be made
A Nation once again!

Thomas Osborne Davis.

He was a Protestant, but preached unity between Catholics and Protestants. To Davis, it was not blood that made a person Irish, but the willingness to be part of the Irish nation. Although the Saxon and Dane were, Davis asserted, objects of unpopularity, their descendants would be Irish if they simply allowed themselves to be.
 
The Soviet Union was probably destined to replace the Internationale with a more "national" anthem, but it didn't have to be the "Hymn of the Soviet Union" as we know it. It could have been the "Song of the Motherland":

(It did indeed become a sort of unofficial national anthem. Prisoners in labor camps--at least the Communists among them--were probably quite sincere when they sang "I know of no other country where a person can breathe so freely.")
 
Billy Connolly had some thoughts on an alternative UK national anthem...


Then there was, of course, the Family Guy alternative Mexican national anthem, which I am not about to post here.
 
USa could had picked The Battle Cry of Freedom as national anthem. Altough some lyrics probably should had changed.

And have half the country singing the Confederate version

"Our Dixie for ever, she's never at a loss.
Down with the eagle, and up with the cross."
 
For England, it would have to be a modified version William Blake's Jerusalem which has occasionally come up as a proposal for an English national anthem. Upon hearing the orchestral version for the first time, King George V said that he preferred "Jerusalem" over the British national anthem "God Save the King". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_a_national_anthem_for_England#"Jerusalem"

Jerusalem's status as a patriotic song has always struck as being a case of a lot of people missing the point of the lyrics given that the original poem was basically Blake complaining about the mess that the Industrial Revolution was making of the place

Personally I've always thought that the British national anthem should be Rule Britannia. It's got a rousing tune and the lyrics have the right combination of bragging and being less than polite to other nations (e.g. "The nations, not so blest as thee, / Must, in their turns, to tyrants fall; /While thou shalt flourish great and free, / The dread and envy of them all.")
 
I like "America the Beautiful:. I get all choked up with the physical description of the nation, "spacious skies," "purple mountains majesty", "across the fruited plains," America, America, God shed his grace on thee," I love the final lines, "from Sea to shining Sea!"
 
Hanns Eisler did set it to music,

but it is true that the words could also fit the melody of the Deutschlandlied...

It is really sad, that we in Germany didn't adopted Brecht/Eisler, and still use Hoffman von Fallersleben's bad nationalist poem from the 19. century. Haydns melody is clearly great for a string quartet, but not for a great hymn (the hymn of the GDR has clearly the better melody for an anthem). Brechts text is one of the few proposed anthems which criticize nationalism/patriotism instead of celebrating it.

Why still using a 19. century anthem with all the terrible nationalism in it, when we clearly saw the results of nationalism in the first half of the 20 century?
 
Germany: Apparently, between 1949 and 1952, West Germany didn't have an official national anthem, so it used two songs "Ich hab' mich ergeben" and "Hymne an Deutschland" as placeholders until the adoption of "Deutschlandlied" in 1952 as the official state anthem. The tune of "Ich hab' mich ergeben" is now used as the national anthem of the Federated States of Micronesia. Reportedly, when Germany unified in 1990, the East German PM suggested parts of the GDR's national anthem be added to the FRG's one (in a way kinda like the RSA did in 1997) but was turned down.

South Africa: When apartheid was ending in South Africa in the early 1990s, they reportedly tried to create a new national anthem from scratch but it didn't work out so they just decided to have two national anthems instead and retained the old apartheid-era state anthem and adopted the ANC party anthem alongside it until 1997 when the two merged into an abridged single song still used today (as playing two songs one one after the other took too much time). There's recently been a push in the RSA to modify or replace the current national anthem because it contains parts of the apartheid-era anthem, though this was reportedly because the first president of the RSA, N.R. Mandela wanted those segments to be in there. I wonder what a new one created from scratch (like Namibia and Zimbabwe did) would've contained or sounded like (Namibia's one is actually pretty good BTW).

Bosnia and Herzegovina: After the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian War, Bosnia ditched its old national anthem and replaced it with a new instrumental song composed from scratch (actually quite stirring BTW). However, it has no lyrics, making it one of only 4 national anthems to not have lyrics, others being Kosovo, San Marino, and Spain (which used to have lyrics but they were ditched after political changes). In 2008, new lyrics were written by the composer and in 2009 it looked like they'd be adopted but due to the nature of Bosnian politics, they've yet to be adopted and subsequent attempts to adopt a set have failed in the legislature. Some have actually called for it to be replaced as it sounds too much like a song from a 1970s comedy film. Either way, with the proposed 2008 lyrics considered, the Bosnian national anthem is actually one of my personal favorites.

South Korea: Recently, some people have said that the current South Korean national anthem is unfitting for a secular democratic republic, as it is too ethnic/race-nationalistic, containing no civic elements. I wonder what a new South Korean national anthem would sound like. The current one's lyrics used to be set to "Auld Lang Syne" back in the day before it got its own music.

Mikestone8 said:
Why not Columbia the Gem of the Ocean? It's a really nice tune.
Much as I love "Battle Cry of Freedom", its tune doesn't really strike me as national anthem material. Though some in the 19th century reportedly said it should've been. I do like "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean" though the use of the word "Columbia" to refer to the U.S. is somewhat archaic now. "Hail Columbia" is also a good contender, it's now used as the VPOTUS' theme song.

Stahlheim said:
I could see a US with a stronger Progressive movement adopting "America the Beautiful" as the national anthem.
Not a bad song, but a bit too nationalistic (as in too Old World-y) for my tastes, and the mention of God in the lyrics might be a bit contentious for some.
 
Last edited:
I've sometimes amused myself with the thought of a TL in which
a) The German monarchy survives, and
b) Some butterfly results in My Country 'Tis of Thee being adopted as the US anthem.

Come the Olympics, we find the same tune getting played for three different countries.
 
I've sometimes amused myself with the thought of a TL in which
a) The German monarchy survives, and
b) Some butterfly results in My Country 'Tis of Thee being adopted as the US anthem.

Come the Olympics, we find the same tune getting played for three different countries.

Hah pretty much a case of 'can I copy your homework?' but with Anthems :D

I'd just go with
although there's no lyrics for it.
 
Germany: Apparently, between 1949 and 1952, West Germany didn't have an official national anthem, so it used two songs "Ich hab' mich ergeben" and "Hymne an Deutschland" as placeholders until the adoption of "Deutschlandlied" in 1952 as the official state anthem. The tune of "Ich hab' mich ergeben" is now used as the national anthem of the Federated States of Micronesia. Reportedly, when Germany unified in 1990, the East German PM suggested parts of the GDR's national anthem be added to the FRG's one (in a way kinda like the RSA did in 1997) but was turned down.

South Africa: When apartheid was ending in South Africa in the early 1990s, they reportedly tried to create a new national anthem from scratch but it didn't work out so they just decided to have two national anthems instead and retained the old apartheid-era state anthem and adopted the ANC party anthem alongside it until 1997 when the two merged into an abridged single song still used today (as playing two songs one one after the other took too much time). There's recently been a push in the RSA to modify or replace the current national anthem because it contains parts of the apartheid-era anthem, though this was reportedly because the first president of the RSA, N.R. Mandela wanted those segments to be in there. I wonder what a new one created from scratch (like Namibia and Zimbabwe did) would've contained or sounded like (Namibia's one is actually pretty good BTW).

Bosnia and Herzegovina: After the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian War, Bosnia ditched its old national anthem and replaced it with a new instrumental song composed from scratch (actually quite stirring BTW). However, it has no lyrics, making it one of only 4 national anthems to not have lyrics, others being Kosovo, San Marino, and Spain (which used to have lyrics but they were ditched after political changes). In 2008, new lyrics were written by the composer and in 2009 it looked like they'd be adopted but due to the nature of Bosnian politics, they've yet to be adopted and subsequent attempts to adopt a set have failed in the legislature. Some have actually called for it to be replaced as it sounds too much like a song from a 1970s comedy film. Either way, with the proposed 2008 lyrics considered, the Bosnian national anthem is actually one of my personal favorites.

South Korea: Recently, some people have said that the current South Korean national anthem is unfitting for a secular democratic republic, as it is too ethnic/race-nationalistic, containing no civic elements. I wonder what a new South Korean national anthem would sound like. The current one's lyrics used to be set to "Auld Lang Syne" back in the day before it got its own music.


Much as I love "Battle Cry of Freedom", its tune doesn't really strike me as national anthem material. Though some in the 19th century reportedly said it should've been. I do like "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean" though the use of the word "Columbia" to refer to the U.S. is somewhat archaic now. "Hail Columbia" is also a good contender, it's now used as the VPOTUS' theme song.


Not a bad song, but a bit too nationalistic (as in too Old World-y) for my tastes, and the mention of God in the lyrics might be a bit contentious for some.
I LOVE the current Aegukga, and I have zero drops of Korean blood in me. The lyrics are great, and the Auld Lang Syne, as majestic as it is, got replaced by an even better tune. Aegukga might be better than even the famed Soviet/Russian anthem.

Ukraine's anthem is awesome IMO, but I think a really nationalist Ukraine could have, especially during times of conflict with Russia, gone for the anthem of the Sich Riflemen, and later the UPA- "Ой у лузі червона калина (Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow ). Somewhat violent, it has a rather catchy tune.

I think Japan's anthem might need lengthening, so some extra lyrics would be a nice thing.
 
Denmark has two 'official' national anthems: "Der er et yndigt Land" and "Kong Christian stod ved højen Mast". "Der er et yndigt Land" is sung on most occasions nowadays while "Kong Christian" has been dubbed the 'royal and military anthem'. "Kong Christian" is to my mind far superior to the somewhat boring tune of "Der er et yndigt Land", and it used to be the only anthem prior to the 30 and 40s, when the Social Democrats came to power. A more conservative Denmark might've kept "Kong Christian" as the sole anthem of the Kingdom.

I'm not only one who dislikes "Der er et yndigt Land", and many have suggested H.C. Andersen's "I Danmark er jeg født" as its obvious replacement. H.C. Andersen wrote it specifically for use as a national anthem, so that would've been an obvious choice as well.

Der er et yndigt Land:

Kong Christian:

Kong Christian (Tchaikovsky's instrumental version - the best one out there, go to 11:18):

I Danmark er jeg født:
 
Last edited:
Top