The "National Anthem of Honduras" () was adopted by presidential decree 42 in 1915. The lyrics were written by Augusto C. Coello and the music composed by Carlos Hartling.
Unofficially, the anthem is sometimes called "'" ("Your flag is a splendour of sky"), which is the first line of the chorus, as a type of incipit.
History
Between independence from Spain in 1821 and 1915, Honduras did not have an official national anthem and used various unofficial anthems such as "" (by Rómulo E. Durón), "", "" (of unknown authorship), "" (by Valentín Durón), " Gerardo Barrios" (by Belgian author Coussin, used during the presidency of José María Medina) and the "".
In 1904, a group of intellectuals proposed to President Manuel Bonilla a competition to find a national anthem, during the presidency of Miguel Rafael Dávila Cuéllar, at the initiative of deputies Rómulo E. Durón and Ramón Valladares. This competition was declared void in 1912, because the ten works presented did not meet the requirements.
Later, a competition was held in which those who competed included Valentín Durón, Santos B. Tercero, Jerónimo Reyna, Juan Ramón Molina and . The works were published in the . The competition was won by a poem titled "" or "", by writer Augusto C. Coello. German-born composer Carlos Hartling was commissioned to compose the music for the anthem, which he did in 1903, although he had previously written scores for the anthem while lyrics were not available. which was published in Gazette No. 4 529 of 15 January 1916 and approved by decree number 34 of 23 January 1917. It was first performed at the Guadalupe Reyes School in Tegucigalpa on 15 September 1915, and performances in official functions began in 1917, An official explanation of the anthem by Gualberto Cantarero Palacios was later published by the Ministry of Public Education.
Lyrics
In its entirety, the anthem is a brief chronology of Honduran history. The anthem consists of the chorus and seven verses. For official functions and school exercises, only the chorus and seventh verse are sung, which was ordered in the late 1920s by minister Presentacion Centeno during the presidency of Miguel Paz Barahona.
!English translation
|- style="vertical-align:top; white-space:nowrap;"
|<poem></poem>
|<poem>
Your flag, your flag is a splendour of sky
Crossed by a block, by a block of snow;
And seen on its sacred background
Are five stars of pale blue;
On your emblem, which a roaring sea
Shields with its rough waves,
Behind the bare summit of a volcano, of a volcano,
There is a star, there is a star of clear light.
VII
To keep that divine emblem,
Let us march, oh fatherland, to death,
Generous will be our fate,
If we die thinking of your love.
Defending your holy flag
And covered in your glorious folds,
There will be many, Honduras, of your dead,
But all will fall with honour.
</poem>
|}
Full lyrics
{| class="wikitable"
!Spanish original beso de amor consagró.
II
De un país donde el sol se levanta,
Mas allá del Atlante azulado,
Aquel hombre te había soñado
Y en tu busca a la mar se lanzó.
Cuando erguiste la pálida frente,
En la viva ansiedad de tu anhelo,
Bajo el dombo gentil de tu cielo
Ya flotaba un extraño pendón.
III
Era inutil que el indio, tu amado,
Se aprestara a la lucha con ira,
Porque envuelto en su sangre Lempira
En la noche profunda se hundió;
Y de la épica hazaña, en memoria,
La leyenda tan sólo ha guardado
De un sepulcro el lugar ignorado
Y el severo perfil de un peñón.
IV
Por tres siglos tus hijos oyeron
El mandato imperioso del amo;
Por tres siglos tu inútil reclamo
En la atmosfera azul se perdió;
Pero un día de gloria tu oído
Percibió, poderoso y distante,
Que allá lejos, por sobre el Atlante,
Indignado rugía un León.
V
Era Francia, la libre, la heroica,
Que en su sueño de siglos dormida
Despertaba iracunda a la vida
Al reclamo viril de Dantón:
Era Francia, que enviaba a la muerte
La cabeza del Rey consagrado,
Y que alzaba soberbia a su lado,
El altar de la diosa razón.
VI
Tú también, ¡oh mi patria!, te alzaste
De tu sueño servil y profundo;
Tú también enseñaste al mundo
Destrozado el infame eslabón.
Y en tu suelo bendito, tras la alta
Cabellera del monte salvaje,
Como un ave de negro plumaje,
La colonia fugaz se perdió.
VII
Por guardar ese emblema divino,
Marcharemos Oh! Patria a la muerte,
Generosa será nuestra suerte,
Si morimos pensando en tu amor.
Defendiendo tu santa bandera
Y en tus pliegues gloriosos cubiertos,
Serán muchos, Honduras, tus muertos,
Pero todos caerán con honor.
</poem>
|<poem>
Your flag, your flag is a splendour of sky
Crossed by a block, by a block of snow;
And seen on its sacred background
Are five stars of pale blue;
On your emblem, which a roaring sea
Shields with its rough waves,
Behind the bare summit of a volcano, of a volcano,
There is a star, there is a star of clear light.
I
A virgin and beautiful Indian, you were sleeping
To the resonant song of your seas,
When thrown into your basins of gold
The bold navigator found you;
And looking at your beauty, ecstatic
At the ideal influence of your charm,
The blue hem of your splendid mantle
He consecrated with his kiss of love.
II
From a country where the sun rises,
Beyond the blue Atlantean,
That man had dreamt of you
And in search of you launched himself into the sea.
When you raised your pale forehead,
In the lively anxiety of your longing,
Under the gentle dome of your sky
A foreign banner was already floating.
III
It was useless that the Indian, your beloved,
Prepare to fight with ire,
Because, enveloped in his blood, Lempira
Sank into the deep night;
And of the epic feat, in memory,
The legend alone has kept
From a tomb the unknown place
And the harsh profile of a crag.
IV
For three centuries your children listened
To the imperative mandate of the master;
For three centuries your useless complaint
Was lost in the blue atmosphere;
But one glorious day your ear
Perceived, powerful and distant,
That far away, over the Atlante,
A Lion roared indignantly.
V
It was France, the free, the heroic,
That in her sleep of centuries asleep
Awoke angry to life
At the virile complaint of Danton:
It was France, that sent to death
The head of the consecrated King,
And that raised proud at his side,
The altar of the goddess reason.
VI
You too, oh my fatherland!, arose
From your servile and deep sleep;
You also taught the world
The infamous shattered link.
And in your blessed soil, behind the tall
Hair of the wild jungle,
Like a bird of black plumage,
The fleeting colony was lost.
VII
To keep that divine emblem,
Let us march, oh fatherland, to death,
Generous will be our fate,
If we die thinking of your love.
Defending your holy flag
And covered in your glorious folds,
There will be many, Honduras, of your dead,
But all will fall with honour.
</poem>
|}
See also
- Flag of Honduras
- Coat of arms of Honduras
Notes
References
External links
- Honduras: Himno Nacional de Honduras - Audio of the national anthem of Honduras, with information and lyrics (archive link)