"Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" (Welsh pronunciation: [heːn wlaːd və n̥adai̯]) is the unofficial national anthem of Wales.

[1][better source needed] The earliest written copy survives and is part of the collections of the National Library of Wales.

[1] The song was originally intended to be performed in 68 time but had to be slowed down to its present 34 tempo[clarification needed] when it began to be sung by large crowds.

The adjudicator of the competition, "Owain Alaw" (John Owen, 1821–1883) asked for permission to include "Glan Rhondda" in his publication, Gems of Welsh melody (1860–1864).

This volume gave "Glan Rhondda" its more famous title, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau", and was sold in large quantities and ensured the popularity of the anthem across the whole of Wales.

[1] At the Bangor Eisteddfod of 1874 "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" gained further popularity when it was sung by Robert Rees ("Eos Morlais"), one of the leading Welsh soloists of his day.

"Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" slowly established itself as the more popular anthem over the next four decades and was sung along with "God Bless the Prince of Wales" and "God Save the Queen" before sporting events until 1975, when sports officials decided that "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" should be sung alone.

[1][5] Petitions to make the song an official national anthem for Wales are occasionally submitted to the Senedd, but the last time one raised sufficient signatures to be debated, in 2014, the conclusion was that this is 'not currently a possible development'.

"God Save the King", the national anthem of the United Kingdom, is sometimes played alongside "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" during official events with a royal connection.

In 1993, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Wales, John Redwood, was embarrassingly videotaped opening and closing his mouth during a communal singing of the national anthem, clearly ignorant of the words but unable to mime convincingly;[11] the pictures were frequently cited as evidence of his unsuitability for the post.

According to John Major's autobiography, the first thing Redwood's successor William Hague said, on being appointed, was that he had better find someone to teach him the words.

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi, Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri; Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mad, Dros ryddid gollasant eu gwaed.

Os treisiodd y gelyn fy ngwlad tan ei droed,[e] Mae hen iaith y Cymry mor fyw ag erioed, Ni luddiwyd yr awen gan erchyll law brad, Na thelyn berseiniol fy ngwlad.

O land of the mountains, the bard's paradise, Whose precipice, valleys are fair to my eyes, Green murmuring forest, far echoing flood Fire the fancy and quicken the blood

For tho' the fierce foeman has ravaged your realm, The old speech of Wales he cannot o'erwhelm, Our passionate poets to silence command, Or banish the harp from your strand.

Old land of the mountains, the Eden of bards, Each gorge and each valley a loveliness guards; Through love of my country, charmed voices will be Its streams, and its rivers, to me.

Though trampled and crush'd by oppression's foul wrong, The language of Cambria still lives on in song; The Awen survives, nor have envious tales Yet silenced the harp of dear Wales.

The £1 coins minted in 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000 with a Welsh emblem on the reverse, also bear the edge inscription PLEIDIOL WYF I'M GWLAD ("I am devoted to my country"), from the refrain of "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau".

A version of "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" was written by Lewis Evans, a migrant from Wales to Y Wladfa, a Welsh-speaking settlement in Patagonia, South America.

Patagonia is dear to me, The new land of the noble Welsh people; True freedom we breathe in our new country, Far from the reach of oppression and betrayal:

The Welsh have been lying broken in scorn, Well, thanks to the Wladfa from dust we're reborn; Our language of old we laud and esteem While Camwy flows with shining stream:

Let Welshman submit to the English no more, Their oppression is ended, and silenced their roar; Y Wladfa we praise while the great white Andes, With its peak in the chamber of dawn: