"Ditanyè" ("The Anthem of Victory", ;) or "" ("One Single Night"), is the national anthem of Burkina Faso. Then-president Thomas Sankara, who was a jazz guitarist, wrote the lyrics. The composer of the melody is unknown, but it has also been attributed to Sankara.

It was adopted during his presidency in a decree issued on 2 August 1984, effective midnight on 4 August 1984, the first anniversary of Sankara's accession to the presidency. The decree also renamed the country from Upper Volta to its current name. The anthem replaced the "Hymne National Voltaïque", the national anthem of Upper Volta.

Lyrics

The first verse and chorus are considered to be the official lyrics, and are performed at most official occasions.

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!French lyrics

!Mossi lyrics

!English translation

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III

Et séant désormais en sa dignité recouvrée

L'amour et l'honneur en partage avec l'humanité,

Le peuple du Burkina chante un hymne à la victoire,

A la gloire du travail libérateur, émancipateur.

A bas l'exploitation de l'homme par l'homme!

Hé en avant pour le bonheur de tout homme,

Par tous les hommes aujourd'hui et demain,

Par tous les hommes ici et pour toujours!

IV

Révolution populaire notre sève nourricière.

Maternité immortelle du progrès à visage d'homme.

Foyer éternel de démocratie consensuelle,

Où enfin l'identité nationale a droit de cité,

Où pour toujours l'injustice perd ses quartiers,

Et où, des mains des bâtisseurs d'un monde radieux

Mûrissent partout les moissons de vœux patriotiques,

Brillent les soleils infinis de joie.

</poem>

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|<poem>I

Against the humiliating bondage of a thousand years

Rapacity came from afar to subjugate them for a hundred years.

Against the cynical malice in the shape

Of neo-colonialism and its little local servants.

Many gave in and certain others resisted.

But the frustrations, the successes, the sweat, the blood

Have fortified our courageous people

And fertilised its heroic struggle.

And one single night has drawn together

The history of an entire people,

And one single night has launched its triumphal march.

Towards the horizon of good fortune.

One single night has brought together our people

With all the peoples of the World,

In the acquisition of liberty and progress.

Fatherland or death, we shall conquer!

II

Nourished in the lively source of the Revolution,

The volunteers for liberty and peace

With their nocturnal and beneficial energies of the 4th of August

Had not only hand arms, but also and above all

The flame in their hearts lawfully to free

Faso forever from the fetters of those who

Here and there were polluting the sacred soul of

Independence and sovereignty.

III

And seated henceforth in rediscovered dignity,

Love and honour partnered with humanity,

The people of Burkina sing a victory hymn

To the glory of the work of liberation and emancipation.

Down with exploitation of man by man!

Forward for the good of every man

By all men of today and tomorrow,

By every man here and always!

IV

Popular revolution our nourishing sap.

Undying motherhood of progress in the face of man.

Eternal hearth of agreed democracy,

Where at last national identity has the right of freedom.

Where injustice has lost its place forever,

And where from the hands of builders of a glorious world

Everywhere the harvests of patriotic vows ripen,

Suns of boundless joy shine.

</poem>

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References

  • Burkina Faso: Une Seule Nuit - Audio of the national anthem of Burkina Faso, with information and lyrics (archive link)