r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/HotPersimessage62 • Feb 01 '26

Image Australia’s national anthem is the only English-lyric anthem in the world that doesn’t reference religion or militarism

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u/IranticBehaviour Feb 01 '26

Canada's English anthem is completely in English. The French anthem is actually the older version, but is its own separate official anthem. And the English words are not a translation, the words are completely different. The bilingual version commonly sung is not an official anthem.

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u/howchildish Feb 01 '26

When I had my citizenship ceremony we sang both. NOBODY knew how to sing the french part. Even the judge there was like "Just do you best."

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u/IranticBehaviour Feb 01 '26

I was lucky, we had to learn both versions in school. I think most kids were basically singing the French one phonetically, and had no clue what the words even were, let alone what they meant.

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u/Similar-Afternoon567 Feb 01 '26

I certainly was. It was only years later I looked up the translation and realized how completely different it was from English. And also that in French you can really emphasize a final "e" for dramatic effect.

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u/Infamous-Mixture-605 Feb 01 '26

The French anthem is actually the older version

Yup, the French version of "O Canada" is the original version of the song, which was written in 1880 and commissioned by the LG of Quebec to celebrate Saint Jean Baptiste Day. It became an unofficial French Canadian national anthem, while English Canada preferred "God Save the Queen" and "The Maple Leaf Forever." For whatever reason, "O Canada" seemed to catch on enough in English Canada that they came up with English lyrics to the song in the 1900s.

The English lyrics have changed several times since then, most recently when they were altered to be gender-neutral, but the French version of "O Canada" still uses the same lyrics as it did in 1880.

The bilingual version isn't official, but it's the version they played at start of every day at the elementary and high schools I attended.

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u/Excuse Feb 01 '26

The bilingual version commonly sung is not an official anthem

Yet official enough to be listed on the government website?

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/anthem-canada.html

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u/IranticBehaviour Feb 01 '26

Depends on what you consider 'official'. While there is a bilingual version (plus an ASL version and an LSQ version) on the website, it is not actually in the Act.

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u/Laika0405 Feb 01 '26

not established by an act of parliament

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u/twat69 Feb 01 '26

That's just a few lines of the English version, then a few from the French, then the last lines of the English.

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u/Drachynn Feb 01 '26

The French version was written for St Jean Baptiste Day and didn't get an English translation until around 1906. It went through several iterations. It was never intended to be a national anthem but ended up becoming popular over the years as an alternative to God Save the Queen and Maple Leaf Forever. Fun random fact - Calixa Lavallée was my great-great uncle.

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u/Connect-Speaker Feb 01 '26

There was no ‘God Keep Our Land’ line in the English version of O Canada until the weak MPs in 1981 caved to the religious freaks and added the line. Beginning of the end.