Anthem of Colombia: complete lyrics and meaning of the Colombian national anthem

The national anthem of the Republic of Colombia was written by ex-president Rafael Núñez, and set to music by Oreste Síndici. The structure consists of a chorus and eleven stanzas in total.

The history of the Colombian anthem goes back to 1850, when Rafael Núñez, then secretary of government, wrote to commemorate the anniversary of the declaration of the independence of Cartagena, which occurred on November 11 from 1811. He carried by name Patriotic anthem.

Before the Síndici set it to music, the text underwent several modifications by Núñez himself and other musical versions were made that were unsuccessful.

In 1887, Síndici accepted a commission from theater director José Domingo Torres on behalf of Rafael Núñez, now president. It was presented to the audience on November 11, 1887. Its popularity grew in such a way that it was declared the National Anthem of the Colombian Republic on October 18, 1920.

Full letter

CHORUS

Oh unfading glory!
Oh immortal joy!
In furrows of Dolores
the good germinates already!

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STROPHES

I

The horrible night is over!
The sublime freedom
spill the auroras
of the invincible light of him.
The whole of humanity,
that moans between chains,
understand the words
of the one who died on the cross.

II

"Independence!" shouts
the American world;
bathes in the blood of heroes
the land of Columbus.
But this great principle:
"The king is not sovereign",
Resonates, and those who suffer
They bless your passion.

III

From the Orinoco the channel
it is filled with spoil;
of blood and tears a river
you look there running.
In Bárbula they don't know
the souls nor the eyes,
if admiration or fright
feel or suffer.

IV

On the shores of the Caribbean
hungry a people fight,
horrors preferring
to perfidious health.
Oh yeah! From Cartagena
self-denial is great,
and rubble of death
despise their virtue.

V

From Boyacá in the fields
the genius of glory
with each spike a hero
undefeated crowned.
Soldiers without armor
they won the victory;
his manly breath
it served as a shield.

SAW

Bolívar crosses the Andes
that waters two oceans;
swords like sparks
they shine in Junín.
Indomitable centaurs
they descend to the Plains,
and it begins to appear
of the epic the end.

VII

The victorious trunk
in Ayacucho it thunders;
and in each triumph it grows
their formidable are.
In its expansive thrust
freedom is released,
from the american sky
forming a pavilion.

VIII

The Virgin her hair
starts in agony
and of his widowed love
hangs them from the cypress.
Regrets your hope
that covers cold slab,
but glorious pride
it surrounds his dawn complexion.

IX

This is how the country is formed,
Sprouting thermopylae;
cyclops constellation
her night lit up.
The flower trembled,
deadly the wind finding,
under the laurels
security sought.

X

But it is not complete glory
win in battle,
that the arm that fights
he is encouraged by the truth.
Independence alone
he does not silence the great clamor;
if the sun shines on everyone,
justice is freedom.

XI

Of the man the rights
Nariño preaching,
the soul of the fight
Prophetic taught.
Ricaurte in San Mateo
in atoms flying,
"Duty before life",
with flames he wrote.

Meaning of the Anthem of Colombia

Chorus

The chorus of the hymn proclaims the inexhaustible glory of the freedom that springs after the fight.

I stanza

In the first stanza, he compares freedom to light breaking through the gloom, evoking familiarity with the liberating words that Jesus Christ offered to the damned on earth. The religious reference attends to a time in which Christianity plays an important cultural role.

II stanza

The second stanza refers to the independence feat that took place throughout America, animated by the desire to form modern republics, that is, with separation of powers.

III stanza

The third stanza evokes the battles faced by the heroes of the cause, making special mention of Bárbula, where EL Girardot died from New Granada. The vast nature bears witness to the unquantifiable sacrifice of the heroes of the country, who died at the crossing of the Orinoco River.

IV stanza

The fourth stanza represents the difficult moment of the Spanish siege of Cartagena, carried out between August 26 and December 6, 1815, under the command of Pablo Morillo. In a situation of extreme poverty and illness, the people resisted the siege for 106 days until they were forced to surrender.

V stanza

The fifth stanza alludes to the Battle of Boyacá carried out on August 7, 1819 at the Teatinos river crossing, Tunja, whose victory sealed the triumph of the so-called Liberation Campaign of New Granada.

VI stanza

The sixth stanza deals with the role of Simón Bolívar in Nueva Granada's Liberation Campaign and describes in a way the battles that he was winning on the continent, among them those of Junín. The expression centaur, mythological beings half men, half horses, is used to refer to the heroism of the independence cavalry that triumphantly crossed the Andes.

VII stanza

The seventh stanza pays tribute to the battle of Ayacucho, Peru, fought on December 9, 1824. In this, the commands of Antonio José de Sucre and José María Córdova for Gran Colombia, as well as José de La Mar and Agustín Gamarra for Peru, were fundamental.

VIII stanza

Appealing to the image of the Sorrowful Virgin, the eighth stanza refers to the women who mourn the death of their soldiers, husbands or children, and who at the same time carry the pride of the cause independentista.

IX stanza

The ninth stanza is a metaphor for the so-called combat of Paya, Thermopylae of Paya or Fuerte de Paya, which occurred on June 27, 1819. The word Thermopylae refers to the history of Ancient Greece, when the Greeks faced the Persian Empire at the famous Thermopylae pass.

X stanza

The tenth stanza makes an exhortation to fight for a republic based on justice and freedom for all nationals, realizing that military victory and political independence are not, in themselves, a glory complete.

Stanza XI

The eleventh and last stanza pays tribute to General Antonio Nariño, considered a precursor of Colombian independence and a visionary of human rights. New Granada, Nariño, was in charge of translating the rights of man and of the citizen approved by the National Assembly of France during the Revolution, which led to his capture in Colombian lands for almost 16 years.

The stew also refers to the hero Antonio Ricaurte who fought for the independence of New Granada and he blew himself up in the battle of San Mateo, carried out between February 28 and March 25, 1814.

Official version of the National Anthem of Colombia

Listen to the National Anthem of Colombia here.

Short version

Complete version

University professor, singer, Bachelor of Arts (Cultural Promotion mention), Master of Literature Compared by the Central University of Venezuela, and PhD candidate in History at the Autonomous University of Lisbon.