The most popular of these was "Rado ide Srbin u vojnike" also known as "Graničarska pesma" (Granichary Song), which was written in 1844 by Vasa Živković on a melody composed by Nikola Đurković.

In 1872, celebrating his coming of age, he ordered a play from the manager of the National Theater in Belgrade, Jovan Đorđević.

Đorđević quickly wrote and presented the play "Markova sablja" (Marko's sword),[14][15] with the aim of glorifying Serbian history and the ruling house of Obrenović.

The song gained more popularity among the people than the piece itself, and in 1882, on the occasion of Milan's enthronement as Serbian king, Đorđević reworked the text and so his new version became the first official anthem of Serbia.

It was won by Aleksa Šantić with a song titled "Bože, na polja zemlje ove" for which he wrote both lyrics and melody, but this new anthem was not officially adopted.

[10] Eventually, in 1909, King Peter I decided to make the anthem "Bože pravde" official again, with minor changes to the text.

"Bože pravde" was officially abandoned and banned after the World War II in 1945, in favour of "Hej, Sloveni" ('Hey, Slavs'), which was the national anthem of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for 47 years, from 1945 to 1992.

[6][9] It utilizes slightly modified original lyrics, asserting that Serbia is no longer a monarchy — all the verses that had a monarchist overtone were changed.

[22][23] The full Serbian national anthem as officially defined consists of eight stanzas, but usually only the first two are performed on public occasions for reasons of brevity.

Сложи српску браћу драгу на свак дичан славан рад, слога биће пораз врагу а најјачи српству град.

Нек на српско ведро чело твог не падне гнева гром Благослови Србу село поље, њиву, град и дом!

Из мрачнога сину гроба српске славе нови сјај настало је ново доба Нову срећу, Боже дај!

Složi srpsku braću dragu na svak dičan slavan rad, sloga biće poraz vragu a najjači srpstvu grad.

Nek na srpsko vedro čelo tvog ne padne gneva grom Blagoslovi Srbu selo polje, njivu, grad i dom!

Iz mračnoga sinu groba srpske slave novi sjaj nastalo je novo doba Novu sreću, Bože daj!

God of Justice; Thou who saved us when in deepest bondage cast, Hear Thy Serbian children's voices, Be our help as in the past.

Bind in closest links our kindred Teach the love that will not fail, May the loathed fiend of discord Never in our ranks prevail.