National Anthem Comparison
Colombia vs Ecuador
4
Shared themes
✗
Different moods
22
22 years apart
✓
Same continent
Comparison Analysis
Colombia and Ecuador, both South America nations, take distinct approaches to their national anthems. Colombia's "National Anthem of the Republic of Colombia" was written in 1887, while Ecuador's "Hail, Oh Homeland" dates to 1865.
Both anthems share themes of freedom, independence, battle / war and god / faith.
The emotional tones differ: Colombia's anthem is proud, while Ecuador's is majestic.
Shared themes
Colombia
🕊 Freedom 🗽 Independence ⚔ Battle / War ✝ God / Faith
Ecuador
🕊 Freedom 🗽 Independence ⚔ Battle / War ✝ God / Faith 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage
Shared themes:
🕊 Freedom 🗽 Independence ⚔ Battle / War ✝ God / Faith
Metadata
| Colombia | Ecuador | |
|---|---|---|
| Written | 1887 | 1865 |
| Adopted | 1920 | 1948 |
| Lyricist | Rafael Núñez | Juan Leon Mera |
| Composer | Oreste Sindici | Antonio Neumane |
| Language | es | es |
| Region | South America | South America |
Lyrics Side by Side
Colombia
Himno Nacional de la República de Colombia
Original
[Coro]
¡Oh gloria inmarcesible!
¡Oh júbilo inmortal!
En surcos de dolores
El bien germina ya.
Cesó la horrible noche,
La libertad sublime
Derrama las auroras
De su invencible luz.
La humanidad entera,
Que entre cadenas gime,
Comprende las palabras
Del que murió en la cruz.
Translation
[Chorus]
Oh unfading glory!
Oh immortal joy!
In furrows of sorrow
Goodness now germinates.
The horrible night has ceased,
Sublime liberty
Spreads the dawns
Of its invincible light.
All of humanity,
Which groans in chains,
Understands the words
Of the one who died on the cross.
Ecuador
Salve, Oh Patria
Original
Coro:
¡Salve, Oh Patria, mil veces, oh Patria!
¡Gloria a ti, gloria a ti!
Ya tu pecho, tu pecho, rebosa,
gozo y paz ya tu pecho rebosa;
Y tu frente, tu frente radiosa,
Más que el sol contemplamos lucir.
Los primeros, los hijos del suelo
que, soberbio, el Pichincha decora,
te aclamaron por siempre señora
y vertieron su sangre por ti.
Dios miró y aceptó el holocausto
y esa sangre fue germen fecundo
de otros héroes que atónito el mundo
vio en tu torno a millares surgir.
¡A millares surgir!
Coro
Translation
[Chorus]
Hail, oh Homeland, a thousand times, oh Homeland!
Glory to you, glory to you!
Your breast, your breast now overflows,
With joy and peace your breast now overflows;
And your brow, your radiant brow,
We behold shining brighter than the sun.
The first ones, the children of the soil
That proud Pichincha adorns,
Acclaimed you forever as their sovereign
And shed their blood for you.
God looked and accepted the sacrifice,
And that blood was the fertile seed
Of other heroes whom the astonished world
Saw rise around you by the thousands.
Rise by the thousands!
[Chorus]
Interesting facts
Colombia
- 1. The full anthem has a chorus and eleven stanzas, but it is almost never sung in full: most Colombians, and most official ceremonies, sing only the chorus and the first stanza.
- 2. The first stanza invokes Christ: all humanity, 'groaning in chains', understands 'the words of the one who died on the cross'.
- 3. Under Law 198 of 1995, radio and television stations that broadcast around the clock must play the official version of the anthem every day at 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM; stations with shorter schedules play it when they open and close their daily broadcasts.
Ecuador
- 1. Juan Leon Mera, the lyricist, is also famous for writing 'Cumanda,' considered one of the first significant novels in Ecuadorian literature
- 2. The music was composed by Antonio Neumane, a French musician who moved to Ecuador and became a key figure in the country's musical life
- 3. A decree of 11 March 1977 dropped the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth stanzas from singing to make the anthem shorter, which is why only the chorus and the second stanza are sung
- 4. Ecuador has marked National Anthem Day every 26 November since 1965, when the military junta then in power set the date to celebrate the anthem's centenary
Listen
Colombia
Ecuador
