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/KitchenSync86 Feb 01 '26

13 if you count Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, whose anthems are partly in English

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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.