The Youngest and Oldest Songs in the World

The question sounds simple: which country has the oldest national anthem? But the answer depends entirely on what you mean by “oldest.” Japan’s anthem contains lyrics from a poem written in 905 AD, yet the melody was composed in 1880 and the song was not officially designated until 1999. The Netherlands’ Wilhelmus has lyrics from the 1570s but was only officially adopted in 1932. Spain’s Marcha Real has been used in royal ceremonies since at least 1770, but it has no words at all.

National anthems exist at the intersection of music, poetry, law, and politics. Their ages are not fixed dates but contested claims, each revealing something about what a nation values: its ancient roots, its moment of revolutionary rupture, or the bureaucratic act that made a song official.

What Counts as “Oldest”?

Before any ranking is possible, three separate questions need untangling.

Oldest lyrics asks when the words were first written, regardless of whether they were set to music or adopted by a state. By this measure, Japan’s “Kimigayo” wins decisively. Its text comes from the Kokin Wakashu, an imperial poetry anthology compiled around 905 AD during the Heian period. The poem is a brief waka wishing for the emperor’s long reign: just 32 syllables in the original Japanese. No other national anthem draws its words from a source this old.

Oldest melody asks when the tune was first composed or documented. Spain’s Marcha Real appears in a 1761 military document called the “Libro de Ordenanza de los toques militares de la Infanteria Espanola,” though it was likely in use even earlier. It has been played as a royal march since at least 1770. The melody of the United Kingdom’s “God Save the King” is documented from 1745, though some musicologists argue for earlier origins. The Dutch Wilhelmus uses a melody that was widespread across French military songs in the late 16th century.

Oldest official adoption asks when a government formally designated a song as its national anthem. France’s La Marseillaise, adopted by the National Convention on July 14, 1795, is often cited as the first song to be officially declared a national anthem through a legislative act. This is the narrowest definition, but arguably the most meaningful: it marks the moment when the modern concept of a “national anthem” was invented.

These three criteria produce three different winners. That ambiguity is not a bug; it reveals how national anthems are composite objects, layered across centuries of cultural and political history.

The Contenders for Oldest Anthem

Japan: Kimigayo (Lyrics from 905 AD)

The lyrics of “Kimigayo” were drawn from the Kokin Wakashu and repurposed as a national song during the Meiji Restoration. In 1869, the British military bandmaster John William Fenton suggested that Japan needed a national anthem and set the poem to a Western-style melody. That version was poorly received. In 1880, a court musician named Hiromori Hayashi composed a new arrangement in a traditional Japanese mode, with a German bandmaster, Franz Eckert, providing the Western harmony. Despite being used at official events for over a century, “Kimigayo” was only legally designated as Japan’s national anthem in 1999, through the Act on National Flag and Anthem. That delay was partly due to the song’s association with wartime imperialism, which made formal adoption politically sensitive for decades.

The Netherlands: Het Wilhelmus (Lyrics from 1568-1572)

The Wilhelmus is the oldest national anthem by lyric composition among Western nations. Written during the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule, it is attributed to an unknown author (possibly Philips of Marnix) and tells the story of William of Orange in first person. The text dates from between 1568 and 1572. It was widely sung during the Eighty Years’ War and became closely tied to Dutch national identity. Despite this long history, the Netherlands only formally adopted it as the official anthem in 1932, replacing the earlier “Wien Neerlandsch Bloed” which had served as the de facto anthem since 1815.

Spain: Marcha Real (Melody from c. 1770)

The Spanish “Royal March” is one of only four national anthems worldwide that has no official lyrics. (The others are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and San Marino.) Its melody has been documented since the 1760s and was decreed a “March of Honor” by King Charles III in 1770. Various attempts to add words have failed, including a 2008 competition that was abandoned after public ridicule. The anthem’s wordlessness is itself a political statement: in a country with multiple strong regional languages (Castilian, Catalan, Basque, Galician), any lyrics would inevitably favor one linguistic group over others.

United Kingdom: God Save the King (1745)

The origins of “God Save the King” are disputed, with various composers credited across multiple centuries. The first definitive public performance was in September 1745 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, during the Jacobite rising. It rapidly became a patriotic standard. Unlike most national anthems, it was never formally adopted through legislation; it became the anthem through long-standing custom and convention. Its melody was so influential that at least 20 other countries have used it at various points, including the United States (for “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”), Prussia, and the Russian Empire.

France: La Marseillaise (1792, Officially Adopted 1795)

La Marseillaise holds the strongest claim to being the first “national anthem” in the modern sense. Written on the night of April 25-26, 1792, by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg, it was originally titled “Chant de guerre pour l’Armee du Rhin” (War Song for the Army of the Rhine). It earned its famous name when volunteer soldiers from Marseille sang it as they marched into Paris. The National Convention adopted it as the national song on July 14, 1795, making France the first country to designate an anthem through a formal act of government. This moment is arguably when the modern concept of a national anthem was born.

The Timeline: When the World Got Anthems

The adoption of national anthems follows a remarkably clear geographic and political pattern. Plotting all 193 UN member states by the date their current anthem was adopted reveals three distinct clusters.

Before 1850: The Early Adopters. Fewer than 15 countries had anything resembling a national anthem before the mid-19th century. These were almost exclusively European monarchies and the newly independent republics of the Americas. France (1795), the United Kingdom (by convention from 1745), the Netherlands (in use from the 1570s, official in 1932), and Spain (in use from 1770) led the way. In Latin America, Peru (1821), Argentina (1813), and Colombia (1819) adopted anthems alongside their independence declarations.

1850-1945: The Nationalist Wave. Between 1850 and 1945, roughly 60 countries adopted national anthems. This wave tracked closely with the rise of nationalism as a political force. Germany adopted the Deutschlandlied in 1922 (lyrics by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben from 1841, set to Haydn’s melody from 1797). Poland’s “Mazurek Dabrowskiego,” written in 1797 by Jozef Wybicki in Reggio Emilia, Italy, was officially adopted in 1927. Japan formalized “Kimigayo” for practical use in 1880. This period produced anthems with strong themes of ethnic identity and territorial claims.

1945-1975: The Decolonization Surge. The single largest wave of anthem adoption occurred between 1945 and 1975, when over 70 countries, primarily in Africa and Asia, gained independence and needed national songs. Kenya adopted “Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu” in 1963. India’s “Jana Gana Mana,” written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911, was adopted upon independence in 1950. Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Algeria, and dozens more composed anthems in the same period. The decolonization anthems tend to share common themes: unity, hope, divine protection, and the natural beauty of the homeland. Many were composed under tight deadlines by committees, sometimes within months of independence.

The correlation between anthem adoption and independence is nearly 1:1. Of the 70+ countries that gained independence between 1945 and 1975, all adopted a national anthem within two years of sovereignty. The anthem was not a decorative afterthought; it was among the first official acts of the new state, alongside designing a flag and writing a constitution.

The Newest Anthems

At the other end of the timeline, some national anthems are barely a decade old. The world’s youngest anthems tell stories of upheaval, partition, and reinvention.

South Sudan (2011). When South Sudan gained independence on July 9, 2011, becoming the world’s newest country, it adopted “South Sudan Oyee!” as its national anthem. The song was composed by students and faculty at the University of Juba, with music by a collective of South Sudanese musicians. It had been used as a patriotic song by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement during the civil war. As of 2026, it remains the world’s newest national anthem adopted by a newly independent state.

Libya (2011). During the civil war that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, the opposition reverted to “Libya, Libya, Libya,” the anthem used by the Kingdom of Libya from 1951 until Gaddafi replaced it in 1969. The National Transitional Council officially reinstated the old anthem in October 2011. This was not a new composition but a restoration, making it an example of how anthem changes can reverse as well as advance.

Afghanistan (2021 and beyond). Afghanistan’s anthem history is among the most turbulent. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan used “Milli Tharana” from 2006, with lyrics incorporating all 14 ethnic groups. When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, they abolished the anthem. As of 2026, the Taliban government has not adopted an official replacement, though the Taliban’s nasheed (religious chant) “Da Sanga Azadi” is used at some state functions. Afghanistan is effectively a country without a settled anthem, illustrating how anthem status can be actively contested.

Nepal (2007). Nepal adopted “Sayaun Thunga Phool Ka” in 2007 after abolishing the monarchy. It replaced “Shreeman Gambhir,” which had been the royal anthem for over 100 years. The new anthem was selected through a national competition that attracted nearly 1,300 entries.

Iraq (2004). “Mawtini” replaced “Ardh al-Furatain” after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government. The poem was originally written in 1934 by Ibrahim Touqan, a Palestinian poet, and had been an unofficial Arab nationalist song for decades. Iraq chose a poem of pan-Arab significance rather than composing a new song from scratch.

Patterns in the Timeline

Zooming out across the full timeline, three distinct waves of anthem creation emerge, each producing songs with recognizable characteristics.

The Revolutionary Period (1789-1830) produced anthems defined by martial energy and civic purpose. La Marseillaise is the archetype: a call to arms written during wartime, adopted during revolution, filled with vivid imagery of battle and sacrifice. The anthems of the early Latin American republics share this character. Argentina’s anthem (1813) and Colombia’s (1819) both feature aggressive rhetoric against colonial oppressors. These were songs designed to mobilize citizens for war.

The Nationalist Period (1830-1920) produced anthems focused on ethnic identity, language, landscape, and historical continuity. Germany’s Deutschlandlied (1841) celebrates geographic and cultural unity. Poland’s “Mazurek Dabrowskiego” (1797, but adopted in the nationalist spirit of the 19th century) celebrates resilience and the promise of national restoration. These anthems were tools for nation-building, designed to create a shared identity among people who often shared a language or culture but not yet a state.

The Decolonization Period (1945-1975) produced anthems oriented toward unity, peace, and development. Having fought for independence through political movements rather than purely military campaigns, the new states of Africa and Asia needed anthems that could hold together diverse ethnic and linguistic groups. Kenya’s “Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu” invokes divine blessing and national unity. India’s “Jana Gana Mana” names regions and rivers, drawing the borders of the nation through song. These anthems tend to be gentler, more prayerful, and more inclusive than their European predecessors.

Each wave reflects the political logic of its era. Revolutionary anthems had to rally soldiers. Nationalist anthems had to define peoples. Decolonization anthems had to unify nations. The function shaped the form.

The Anthem That Hasn’t Been Written Yet

Several territories and political entities in the world today exist in a state of anthem ambiguity.

Taiwan uses the anthem of the Republic of China, which dates to 1929. Whether this counts as Taiwan’s anthem is itself a political statement. Palestine has “Fida’i” (“My Redemption”), adopted by the PLO in 1972, but its status depends on the recognition of Palestinian statehood, which remains contested. Kosovo adopted “Europe” as its anthem upon declaring independence in 2008; it is one of only a few anthems composed specifically to have no lyrics, in order to avoid favoring Kosovo’s Albanian majority over its Serbian minority.

Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has its own anthem, flag, and currency, but is not recognized by any UN member state. Western Sahara has an anthem adopted by the Polisario Front, but its territorial claims are disputed with Morocco. In these cases, the anthem exists but the state does not, at least not in the eyes of international law.

The anthem remains one of the most reliable markers of statehood. In 2020, the Protocol and Liaison Service of the United Nations maintained a list of 193 national anthems, one for each member state. When South Sudan joined the UN in 2011, one of the first protocol questions was which anthem to play. The anthem is not just a song; it is a credential.

At the oldest end, Japan’s “Kimigayo” connects a modern nation-state to a poem written more than 1,100 years ago. At the youngest end, countries like South Sudan and Nepal are singing anthems younger than the average university student. Between these extremes, the global timeline of anthem adoption maps the full history of modern statehood: revolution, nationalism, decolonization, and the ongoing process of nations being born, dying, and reinventing themselves through song.