Suriname
God zij met ons Suriname
God Be with Our Suriname
1959
1975
Cornelis Atses Hoekstra and Henry de Ziel
Johannes Corstianus de Puy
✝ God / Faith 🤝 Unity 🌈 Diversity 🕊 Freedom |
Key Facts
- 1. Suriname's anthem has an alternate version in Sranantongo (the local creole language), which is often preferred in informal settings and is considered more emotionally resonant by many citizens.
- 2. The anthem's melody was composed by a church organist, giving it a distinctly hymn-like quality that sets it apart from the martial anthems of neighboring South American countries.
- 3. Suriname is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Americas, and its anthem is notably one of the few that explicitly acknowledges its population arrived from different origins.
Lyrics
God zij met ons Suriname!
Hij verheffe ons heerlijk land.
Hoe wij hier ook samen kwamen,
Aan zijn grond zijn wij verpand.
Werkend houden w' in gedachten
Recht en waarheid maken vrij.
Al wat goed is te betrachten
Dat geeft aan ons land waardij.
Opo kondreman oen opo!
Sranan gron e kari oen.
Wans ope tata komopo,
Wi moes seti kondre boen.
Stre de f'stre wi no sa frede.
Gado de wi fesiman.
Heri libi te na dede,
Wi sa feti gi Sranan.
Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals
Analysis
EditorialWritten by Cornelis Atses Hoekstra and Henry de Ziel with music by Johannes Corstianus de Puy. The anthem was adopted upon Suriname's independence from the Netherlands on November 25, 1975. Suriname is the only Dutch-speaking sovereign nation in South America, and the anthem's reference to 'however we came together here' acknowledges the country's diverse ethnic composition.