Croatia National Anthem

Lijepa naša domovino

Lijepa nasa domovino

Our Beautiful Homeland

Written 1835

Adopted 1972

Lyrics Antun Mihanović

Music Josip Runjanin

🌿 Nature ❤ Love of homeland 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage 🏛 Identity | Proud

Key Facts

1. The words first appeared on 14 March 1835 in the literary paper Danica, as "Horvatska domovina" ("Croatian Homeland"), during the Croatian National Revival
2. The melody has often been compared with the duet of Edgardo and Enrico in Act 3 of Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor (1835); whether Runjanin borrowed from it is still debated
3. The official anthem uses adapted versions of the first two and the last two stanzas of Mihanović's poem
4. In 1907 the Association of Croatian Singing Societies asked the Croatian Sabor to make the song the state anthem by law; the initiative failed, and it remained Croatia's unofficial anthem until 1972

Croatia National Anthem Lyrics

Lijepa naša domovino, Oj junačka zemljo mila, Stare slave djedovino, da bi vazda sretna bila! Mila, kano si nam slavna, Mila si nam ti jedina. Mila, kuda si nam ravna, Mila, kuda si planina! Teci Dravo, Savo teci, Nit' ti Dunav silu gubi, Sinje more svijetu reci, Da svoj narod Hrvat ljubi. Dok mu njive sunce grije, Dok mu hrašće bura vije, Dok mu mrtve grobak krije, Dok mu živo srce bije!

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

Analysis

Editorial

Written by Antun Mihanović during the Illyrian movement, a cultural and political movement among South Slavs, and published in 1835 as the poem "Horvatska domovina". The music is traditionally credited to Josip Runjanin, an army officer and amateur musician, and dated to 1846, although the literature also gives other years between 1840 and 1848. It was first performed as the Croatian anthem in 1891 and became official on 29 February 1972, by a constitutional amendment of the Socialist Republic of Croatia.