National Anthem Comparison
Mauritania vs Senegal
1
Shared themes
✗
Different moods
57
57 years apart
✓
Same continent
Comparison Analysis
Mauritania and Senegal, both Africa nations, take distinct approaches to their national anthems. Mauritania's "National Anthem of Mauritania" was written in 2017, while Senegal's "Pluck Your Koras, Strike the Balafons" dates to 1960.
Both anthems share themes of Ancestors / Heritage. Mauritania additionally explores God / Faith and Love of homeland, while Senegal also touches on Unity, Identity, Diversity and Peace.
The emotional tones differ: Mauritania's anthem is Solemn, while Senegal's is Proud.
Senegal's anthem predates Mauritania's by 57 years, having been written in 1960 compared to 2017.
Mauritania changed its national anthem in 2017, reflecting a shift in the nation's identity or political landscape.
Shared themes
Mauritania
✝ God / Faith ❤ Love of homeland 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage
Senegal
🤝 Unity 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage 🏛 Identity 🌈 Diversity ☮ Peace
Shared themes:
🏺 Ancestors / Heritage
Metadata
| Mauritania | Senegal | |
|---|---|---|
| Written | 2017 | 1960 |
| Adopted | 2017 | 1960 |
| Lyricist | Committee | Leopold Sedar Senghor |
| Composer | Committee | Herbert Pepper |
| Language | ar | fr |
| Region | West Africa | West Africa |
Lyrics Side by Side
Mauritania
نشيد موريتانيا الوطني
Original
وطني حبّك في فؤادي يسري
بك أحيا مثلما يحيا السّمك بالبحر
منك أجني ما أشاء من فخر
لك ربّي وعلى كلّ البشر
عطّر الدنيا بمسك من عبير
وأنار الكون من سنا القمر
بتراب الأرض يسمو المنبت
وبرمل القاع يغلو الجوهر
أنت يا وطن عزيز المحتد
فتبارك سامي الأصل الأغر
Translation
My homeland, your love flows through my heart,
In you I live as fish live in the sea,
From you I reap all the pride I desire.
For you, my Lord, and upon all mankind,
You perfumed the world with fragrant musk
And illuminated the universe with the glow of the moon.
In the earth's soil the origin rises high,
And in the sands of the seabed the jewel grows precious.
You, O homeland, are of noble descent,
So blessed be your exalted and illustrious origin.
Senegal
Pincez Tous vos Koras, Frappez les Balafons
Original
Pincez tous vos koras, frappez les balafons.
Le lion rouge a rugi.
Le dompteur de la brousse
D'un bond s'est élancé,
Dissipant les ténèbres.
Soleil sur nos terreurs, soleil sur notre espoir.
Debout, frères, voici l'Afrique rassemblée.
[Refrain]
Fibres de mon cœur vert,
Épaule contre épaule, mes plus que frères,
Ô Sénégalais, debout!
Unissons la mer et les sources,
Unissons la steppe et la forêt!
Salut Afrique mère.
Sénégal, toi le fils de l'écume du lion,
Surgi de la nuit au galop des chevaux,
Rends-nous, oh! rends-nous l'honneur de nos ancêtres,
Splendides comme ébène et forts comme le muscle,
Nous disons droits, l'épée n'a pas une bavure.
[Refrain]
Sénégal, nous faisons nôtre ton grand dessein:
Rassembler les poussins à l'abri des milans
Pour en faire, de l'est à l'ouest, du nord au sud,
Dressé, un seul peuple, un peuple sans couture
Mais un peuple tourné vers tous les vents du monde.
[Refrain]
Sénégal, comme toi, comme tous nos héros,
Nous serons durs sans haine et des deux bras ouverts.
L'épée, nous la mettrons dans la paix du fourreau,
Car le travail sera notre arme et la parole.
Le Bantou est un frère, et l'Arabe et le Blanc.
[Refrain]
Mais que si l'ennemi incendie nos frontières
Nous soyons tous dressés et les armes au poing:
Un peuple dans sa foi défiant tous les malheurs,
Les jeunes et les vieux, les hommes et les femmes.
La mort, oui! Nous disons la mort mais pas la honte.
[Refrain]
Translation
Pluck all your koras, strike the balafons.
The red lion has roared.
The tamer of the bush
With one leap has sprung forward,
Dispelling the darkness.
Sun over our terrors, sun over our hope.
Arise, brothers, here is Africa assembled.
[Chorus]
Fibres of my green heart,
Shoulder to shoulder, my more than brothers,
O Senegalese, arise!
Let us unite the sea and the springs,
Let us unite the steppe and the forest!
Hail, Africa, mother.
Senegal, you the son of the lion's foam,
Sprung from the night at the gallop of horses,
Give us back, oh! give us back the honour of our ancestors,
Splendid as ebony and strong as muscle,
We say upright, the sword has not a notch.
[Chorus]
Senegal, we make your grand design our own:
To gather the chicks under shelter from the hawks
To make of them, from east to west, from north to south,
Standing, one single people, a people without seam
But a people turned toward all the winds of the world.
[Chorus]
Senegal, like you, like all our heroes,
We shall be hard without hatred and with both arms open.
The sword, we shall place it in the peace of its sheath,
For work shall be our weapon and the spoken word.
The Bantu is a brother, and the Arab and the White.
[Chorus]
But should the enemy set fire to our borders
We shall all stand up, weapons in hand:
A people in its faith defying all misfortune,
The young and the old, the men and the women.
Death, yes! We say death but not dishonour.
[Chorus]
Interesting facts
Mauritania
- 1. The new anthem uses imagery of fish and the sea, unusual for a country that is 90% Saharan desert, reflecting the importance of the Atlantic coastline to Mauritanian identity and economy.
- 2. Mauritania's 2017 anthem change was bundled with adding green stripes to the national flag, making it one of the rare cases where both anthem and flag were redesigned simultaneously by popular vote.
- 3. The previous anthem had no musical instruments in its official performance, being sung a cappella in accordance with certain interpretations of Islamic tradition regarding music.
Senegal
- 1. Leopold Sedar Senghor, who wrote the lyrics, was the first African elected to the Academie francaise and is one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century
- 2. The anthem directly references traditional instruments: the kora (a 21-string harp) and the balafon (a wooden xylophone), both central to West African griot culture
- 3. The 'red lion' in the anthem is Senegal's national symbol, and the country's football team is known as the Lions of Teranga
Listen
Mauritania
Senegal
