National Anthem Comparison
Argentina vs Uruguay
3
Shared themes
✓
Same mood
21
21 years apart
✓
Same continent
Comparison Analysis
Argentina and Uruguay, both South America nations, take distinct approaches to their national anthems. Argentina's "Argentine National Anthem" was written in 1812, while Uruguay's "National Anthem of Uruguay" dates to 1833.
Both anthems share themes of freedom, battle / war and flag. Argentina additionally explores independence, while Uruguay also touches on revolution.
Both anthems carry a majestic tone, creating a similar emotional register despite their geographic distance.
Argentina changed its national anthem in 1900, reflecting a shift in the nation's identity or political landscape.
Shared themes
Argentina
🕊 Freedom 🗽 Independence ⚔ Battle / War 🚩 Flag
Uruguay
🕊 Freedom 🔥 Revolution ⚔ Battle / War 🚩 Flag
Shared themes:
🕊 Freedom ⚔ Battle / War 🚩 Flag
Metadata
| Argentina | Uruguay | |
|---|---|---|
| Written | 1812 | 1833 |
| Adopted | 1813 | 1848 |
| Lyricist | Vicente López y Planes | Francisco Acuña de Figueroa |
| Composer | Blas Parera | Francisco José Debali |
| Language | es | es |
| Region | South America | South America |
Lyrics Side by Side
Argentina
Himno Nacional Argentino
Original
Oíd, Mortales, el grito sagrado:
¡Libertad! ¡Libertad! ¡Libertad!
¡Oíd el ruido de rotas cadenas:
ved en trono a la noble Igualdad!
Ya su trono dignísimo abrieron
las Provincias Unidas del Sud
y los libres del mundo responden:
¡Al gran Pueblo Argentino salud!
[Coro]
Sean eternos los laureles
que supimos conseguir:
coronados de gloria vivamos
o juremos con gloria morir.
Translation
Hear, mortals!, the sacred cry:
Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!
Hear the sound of broken chains;
See noble equality enthroned.
Now their most worthy throne have opened
the United Provinces of the South!
And the free peoples of the world reply:
To the great Argentine people, hail!
[Chorus]
May the laurels be eternal
that we knew how to win:
crowned in glory let us live,
or let us swear to die with glory.
Uruguay
Himno Nacional de Uruguay
Original
[Coro]
¡Orientales, la Patria o la Tumba!
¡Libertad, o con gloria morir!
Es el voto que el alma pronuncia,
Y que heroicos sabremos cumplir.
Libertad, libertad, Orientales!
Este grito a la Patria salvó,
Que a sus bravos en fieras batallas
De entusiasmo sublime inflamó.
De este don sacrosanto la gloria
Merecimos: tiranos temblad!
Libertad en la lid clamaremos,
Y muriendo, también libertad!
[Coro]
Translation
[Chorus]
Easterners, the Homeland or the Grave!
Freedom, or die with glory!
This is the vow that the soul pronounces,
And which heroically we will fulfill.
Freedom, freedom, Easterners!
This cry saved the Homeland,
Inflaming its brave ones in fierce battles
With sublime enthusiasm.
Of this sacred gift the glory
We deserved: tyrants, tremble!
Freedom we shall cry in the fight,
And dying, freedom too!
[Chorus]
Interesting facts
Argentina
- 1. In 1990, rock musician Charly García released his own rock version of the anthem on the album 'Filosofía barata y zapatos de goma'. A complaint denounced it as disrespectful, and the album's release was delayed until the courts authorised the version.
- 2. The anthem opens with a long, elaborate instrumental introduction that mixes fanfare-like and songlike motifs; musicologist Carol A. Hess likens it to the kind of introduction heard in an opera.
- 3. May 11, the date of the anthem's adoption, is celebrated annually in Argentina as 'Día del Himno Nacional Argentino' (National Anthem Day).
Uruguay
- 1. The anthem opens with the cry 'Orientales, la Patria o la Tumba!' (Easterners, the Homeland or the Grave!), a life-or-death pledge; the phrase is also used as the anthem's popular name.
- 2. Debali was born in the Kingdom of Hungary and settled in Montevideo in 1838, where he led the orchestra of the Casa de Comedias, the city's first theatre. His score reflects the Italian opera of the day; it has been compared with Donizetti's 'Lucrezia Borgia', but the musicologist Lauro Ayestarán concluded in 1953 that it is not a plagiarism.
- 3. Credit for the music was long disputed between Debali and Fernando Quijano, who is said to have advised him. A 1979 decree on the official score calls it Debali's original work, but Uruguay's Ministry of Education and Culture notes that the debate is still open.
Listen
Argentina
Uruguay
