| French: italic=no|La Brabançonne | |
| English Title: | The Brabantian |
| Prefix: | National |
| Country: | Belgium |
| Author: | Alexandre Dechet and Constantin Rodenbach (original version, 1830) Charles Rogier (current version, 1860) |
| Composer: | François van Campenhout |
| Music Date: | September 1830 |
| Adopted: | 1860, current text in 1921 |
| Sound: | La Brabançonne.oga |
| Sound Title: | U.S. Navy Band instrumental version |
"French: italic=no|La Brabançonne" (pronounced as /fr/ (La Brabançonne); Dutch; Flemish: "De Brabançonne"; German: "Das Lied von Brabant") is the national anthem of Belgium. The originally French title refers to the Duchy of Brabant; the name is usually untranslated in Belgium's other two official languages, Dutch and German.
According to legend, the Belgian national anthem was written in September 1830, during the Belgian Revolution, by a young revolutionary called "Jenneval", who read the lyrics during a meeting at the Aigle d'Or café.
Jenneval, a Frenchman whose real name was Alexandre Dechet (sometimes known as Louis-Alexandre Dechet), wrote the Brabançonne. At the time, he was an actor at the theatre where, in August 1830, the revolution started, which led to independence from the Netherlands. Jenneval died in the war of independence. François van Campenhout composed the accompanying score, based on the tune of a French song called "L'Air des lanciers polonais" ("the tune of the Polish Lancers"), written by the French poet Eugène de Pradel, whose tune was itself an adaptation of the tune of a song, "L'Air du magistrat irréprochable", found in a popular collection of drinking songs called La Clé du caveau (The Key to the cellar)[1] [2] and it was first performed in September 1830.
In 1860, Belgium formally adopted the song and music as its national anthem, although the then prime minister, Charles Rogier, edited out lyrics attacking the Dutch House of Orange, inspired by the version written by Louis Hymans.[3]
The Brabançonne is also a monument (1930) by the sculptor Charles Samuel on the Surlet de Chokier square in Brussels. The monument contains partial lyrics of both the French and Dutch versions of the anthem. Like many elements in Belgian folklore, this is mainly based on the French "La Marseillaise" which is also both an anthem and the name of a monument – the sculptural group Departure of the Volunteers of 1792, commonly called La Marseillaise, at the base of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Various committees were charged with reviewing the text and tune of the Brabançonne and establishing an official version. A ministerial circular of the Ministry of the Interior on 8 August 1921 decreed that only the fourth verse of the text by Charles Rogier should be considered official for all three, French, German and in Dutch. Here below:
| French (La Brabançonne) | IPA transcription | English translation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You shall always live great and beautiful,And your invincible unity Shall have as an immortal motto:The King, the Law, Liberty! The King, the Law, Liberty | ||||
| Dutch (Dutch; Flemish: italic=no|De Brabançonne) | IPA transcription | English translation | ||
| German (German: italic=no|Die Brabançonne) | IPA transcription | English translation | ||
| Law and King and Freedom high! |
In recent years, an unofficial short version of the anthem is sung during Belgian National Day on 21 July each year, combining the words of the anthem in all three of Belgium's official languages, similar to the bilingual version of "O Canada".[4] The lyrics are from the 4th verse of the anthem.
| Language | No. | Line | IPA transcription | Translation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | 1 | style='text-align:left' | Dutch; Flemish: O dierbaar België, O heilig land der Vaad'ren, | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | O dear Belgium, O holy land of the fathers – | |
| 2 | style='text-align:left' | Dutch; Flemish: Onze ziel en ons hart zijn u gewijd. | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | Our soul and our heart are devoted to you! | ||
| French | 3 | style='text-align:left' | French: À toi notre sang, ô Patrie ! | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | With blood to spill for you, O fatherland! | |
| 4 | style='text-align:left' | French: Nous le jurons tous, tu vivras ! | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | We swear with one cry – You shall live! | ||
| German | 5 | style='text-align:left' | German: So blühe froh in voller Schöne, | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | So gladly bloom in beauty full, | |
| 6 | style='text-align:left' | German: zu der die Freiheit Dich erzog, | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | Into what freedom has taught you to be, | ||
| 7 | style='text-align:left' | German: und fortan singen Deine Söhne: | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | And evermore shall sing your sons: | ||
| French | 8 | style='text-align:left' | French: Le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté ! | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | The King, the Law, the Liberty! | |
| Dutch | 9 | style='text-align:left' | Dutch; Flemish: Het woord getrouw, dat g' onbevreesd moogt spreken, | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | Faithful to the word that you may speak boldly, | |
| 10 | style='text-align:left' | Dutch; Flemish: Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht! | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | For King, for Freedom and for Law! | ||
| German | 11 | style='text-align:left' | German: Gesetz und König und die Freiheit hoch! | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | To Law and King and Freedom, hail! | |
| French | 12 | style='text-align:left' | French: Le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté ! | style='text-align:left' | pronounced as /wrap=none/ | style='text-align:left' | The King, the Law, the Liberty! |