
States with multiple national languages may offer several versions of their anthem. National anthems are usually written in the most common language of the state, whether de facto or official. The French anthem " La Marseillaise" was written half a century later in 1792, and adopted in 1795. For example, the British national anthem " God Save the King" was first performed in 1745. Anthems became increasingly popular among European states in the 18th century. The first anthem to be officially adopted as such was the Spanish anthem " La Marcha Real", in 1770 its origins remain unclear it is suggested that it has 16th century Venetian origins, or even that it was composed by king Frederick the Great himself it is also one of the few national anthems that has never had official lyrics. The Japanese anthem, " Kimigayo", employs the oldest lyrics of any national anthem, taking its words from the " Kokin Wakashū", which was first published in 905, yet these words were not set to music until 1880. This has both Dutch and English language versions and is unusual in being an acrostic in both languages. Among the national anthems, the first to be composed was the Dutch national anthem, the " Wilhelmus", which was written between 15. There are multiple claimants to the position of oldest national anthem.

Some states use their royal anthem as the national anthem, such as the state anthem of Jordan. Such anthems are usually performed at public appearances by the monarch or during other events of royal importance. A royal anthem is a patriotic song similar to a national anthem, but it specifically praises or prays for a monarch or royal dynasty. A song or hymn can become a national anthem under the state's constitution, by a law enacted by its legislature, or simply by tradition. Most nation states have an anthem, defined as "a song, as of praise, devotion, or patriotism" most anthems are either marches or hymns in style. The anthem is one of the earliest to be adopted by a modern state, in 1795. Something wrong with commons file - has a vandalised text overlay - reloading the original en-wiki file, which I just restored to do so.Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, the composer of the French national anthem " La Marseillaise", sings it for the first time. Issue is a vandalised subtitle track - recode from original Mp3 Reverted to version as of 14:54, 4 July 2008 Reverted to version as of 01:55, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

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