List of national anthems

A song or hymn can become a national anthem under the state's constitution, by a law enacted by its legislature, or simply by tradition.

[11] National anthems are usually written in the most common language of the state, whether de facto or official.

For instance, Switzerland's national anthem has different lyrics for each of the country's four official languages: French, German, Italian, and Romansh.

God Defend New Zealand was added in 1977 after a petition to Parliament and Queen Elizabeth II's approval.

Jana-gana-mana was originally written in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911 and adopted as the national anthem in 1950.

Vande Mataram was composed in Sanskritised Bengali by Bankimchandra Chatterjee in the 1870s and inspired people during their fight for freedom.

Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle , the composer of the French national anthem " La Marseillaise ", sings it for the first time. The anthem is one of the earliest to be adopted by a modern state, in 1795.