National Anthem Comparison
Paraguay vs Uruguay
3
Shared themes
✗
Different moods
13
13 years apart
✓
Same continent
Comparison Analysis
Paraguay and Uruguay, both South America nations, take distinct approaches to their national anthems. Paraguay's "Paraguayan National Anthem" was written in 1846, while Uruguay's "National Anthem of Uruguay" dates to 1833.
Both anthems share themes of freedom, battle / war and revolution. Paraguay additionally explores independence, while Uruguay also touches on flag.
The emotional tones differ: Paraguay's anthem is fierce, while Uruguay's is majestic.
Both anthems share the same lyricist: Francisco Acuña de Figueroa, linking the two nations through a common poetic voice.
Shared themes
Paraguay
🕊 Freedom 🗽 Independence ⚔ Battle / War 🔥 Revolution
Uruguay
🕊 Freedom 🔥 Revolution ⚔ Battle / War 🚩 Flag
Shared themes:
🕊 Freedom ⚔ Battle / War 🔥 Revolution
Metadata
| Paraguay | Uruguay | |
|---|---|---|
| Written | 1846 | 1833 |
| Adopted | 1846 | 1848 |
| Lyricist | Francisco Acuña de Figueroa | Francisco Acuña de Figueroa |
| Composer | Francisco Jose Debali (disputed) | Francisco José Debali |
| Language | es | es |
| Region | South America | South America |
Lyrics Side by Side
Paraguay
Himno Nacional Paraguayo
Original
A los pueblos de América, infausto,
Tres centurias un cetro oprimió,
Mas un día soberbia surgiendo,
¡Basta!... dijo, y el cetro rompió.
Nuestros padres, lidiando grandiosos,
Ilustraron su gloria marcial;
Y trozada la augusta diadema,
Enalzaron el gorro triunfal.
[Coro]
Paraguayos, ¡República o Muerte!
Nuestro brío nos dio libertad;
Ni opresores, ni siervos alientan,
Donde reinan unión, e igualdad.
Translation
For three centuries a baleful scepter
Oppressed the peoples of America,
But one day America rose in her pride,
Cried “Enough!” and broke the scepter.
Our fathers, fighting magnificently,
Made their martial glory shine;
And, the august diadem shattered,
They raised on high the triumphal cap.
[Chorus]
Paraguayans, Republic or Death!
Our spirit gave us freedom;
Neither oppressors nor slaves draw breath
Where union and equality reign.
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
Paraguay
- 1. A 2025 law (Law 7427) requires every educational institution in the country to sing the anthem at least once a week
- 2. The full text has seven stanzas and a chorus, and the music opens with an instrumental introduction, but usually only the first stanza and the chorus are sung
- 3. The anthem also has an official Guarani version by Reinaldo Decoud Larrosa, approved by the Ministry of Education and Sciences in 2019, reflecting the country's official bilingualism
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
Paraguay
Uruguay
