Cape Verde National Anthem

Cântico da Liberdade

Song of Freedom

Written 1996

Adopted 1996

Lyrics Amilcar Spencer Lopes

Music Adalberto Higino Tavares Silva

🕊 Freedom 🤝 Unity 🌅 Hope 🌿 Nature 💪 Resilience | Hopeful

Key Facts

1. The anthem's composer, Adalberto Higino Tavares Silva, a well-known writer of mornas, set it in G major with modulations to the minor, which he notes is common in Cape Verdean mornas.
2. Parliament approved the anthem on May 28, 1996, by secret ballot, with 51 votes in favor, 1 against and 13 abstentions; the ruling party had pushed for an urgent vote so that Cape Verde would have its own anthem at the Atlanta Olympics, its first Olympic Games.
3. The authors deliberately avoided a martial tone: the lyrics never mention war, enemies or military struggle, and celebrate freedom, hope and human dignity.
4. While the two countries shared one anthem, the same anthem was played twice whenever the presidents of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau met at an event, which became awkward.

Cape Verde National Anthem Lyrics

Canta, irmão canta, meu irmão que a liberdade é hino e o homem a certeza. Com dignidade, enterra a semente no pó da ilha nua; no despenhadeiro da vida a esperança é do tamanho do mar que nos abraça, sentinela de mares e ventos perseverante entre estrelas e o atlântico entoa o cântico da liberdade. Canta, irmão canta, meu irmão que a liberdade é hino e o homem a certeza.

Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals

Analysis

Editorial

Adopted in 1996, it replaced the anthem that Cape Verde had shared with Guinea-Bissau since independence in 1975, a legacy of the PAIGC liberation movement that once united both countries. After Cape Verde broke ties with Guinea-Bissau following a 1980 coup, the country eventually adopted its own distinct anthem. The lyrics evoke the islands' bare, dusty land and the sea that embraces them.