Salve, Oh Patria

The lyrics were written in 1865 by poet Juan León Mera, under request of the Ecuadorian Senate; the music was composed by Antonio Neumane.

The verses are marked by a strong anti-Spanish sentiment and narrate the failed 1809 uprising against Bonapartist Spain and the 1820–1822 Ecuadorian War of Independence.

From 1830 to 1832, José Joaquín de Olmedo wrote a national anthem (chorus and four verses) as an homage to the nascent Ecuadorian state.

In 1838, a Canción Nacional (National Song), of a chorus and six verses, appeared included in the pamphlet Poesías by General Flores, which was published by the Government Press.

[1] On January 16, 1866, the complete version of the lyrics by Juan León Mera were published in the Quiteño weekly El Sud Americano.

In 1913, the Guayaquileño writer and diplomat Víctor Manuel Rendón submitted a new hymn with lyrics adapted from the music of Antonio Neumane, but ultimately the Legislature rejected the proposal.

The firsts, the sons of the soil Which Pichincha superbly adorns, Declared you as their sovereign lady forever, And shed their blood for you.

God observed and accepted the holocaust, And that blood was the fertile germ Of other heroes whom the world in astonishment Saw rise up around you by the thousands.

De las manos paternas la hubimos, nadie intente arrancárnosla ahora, ni nuestra ira excitar vengadora quiera, necio o audaz, contra sí.

Your children were outraged by the yoke That Iberian audacity imposed on you, By the unjust and horrendous disgrace Fatally weighing upon you.

II (official verse) The first sons of the soil Which Pichincha proudly adorns, Declared you as their sovereign lady forever, And shed their blood for you.

God observed and accepted the holocaust, And that blood was the prolific seed Of other heroes whom the world in astonishment Saw rise up around you by the thousands.

Of those heroes of iron arm No land was invincible, And from the valley to the highest sierra You could hear the roar of the fray.

After the fray, Victory would fly, Freedom after the triumph would come, And the Lion was heard broken With a roar of helplessness and despair.

At last Spanish ferocity yielded, And now, oh Fatherland, your free existence Is the noble and magnificent heritage Which the felicitous heroism gave us.

Come lead and the striking iron, That the idea of war and revenge Wakes the heroic strength That made the fierce Spanish succumb.

May you prevent the death Of the Fatherland and her children in the end; Sink to the deep point in your gut All that exists on your soil.