"All Hail, Liberia, Hail!" is the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. The lyrics were written by

Daniel Bashiel Warner Daniel Bashiel Warner (April 19, 1815 – December 1, 1880) served as the third president of Liberia from 1864 to 1868. Prior to this, he served as the third Secretary of State in the cabinet of Joseph Jenkins Roberts from 1854 to 1856 and the f ...

(1815–1880), who later became the third

president of Liberia The president of the Republic of Liberia is the head of state and government of Liberia. The president serves as the leader of the executive branch and as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Liberia. Prior to the independence of Liberia ...

, and the music was composed by

Olmstead Luca Olmstead Luca (18261869) was a Liberian pianist and composer. He composed the music for the Liberian national anthem, "All Hail, Liberia, Hail!". He came from a mixed-race family that had immigrated to Liberia from the southern United States ...

(1826–1869). It became the official national anthem upon Liberia's independence in 1847.

History

1974 proposed change to lyrics

On 22 July 1974, the

Legislature of Liberia The Legislature of Liberia is the bicameral legislature of the government of Liberia. It consists of a Senate – the upper house, and a House of Representatives – the lower house, modeled after the United States Congress. Sessions are held ...

passed an act giving authorization to the president to establish a commission to give consideration to possible changes to a number of national symbols, including "All Hail, Liberia, Hail!" and the

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

. President

William Tolbert William Richard Tolbert Jr. (13 May 1913 – 12 April 1980) was a Liberian politician who served as the 20th president of Liberia from 1971 until 1980. Tolbert was an Americo-Liberian and trained as a civil servant before entering the House of ...

appointed 51 members to the Commission on National Unity. The commission was headed by McKinley Alfred Deshield Sr., and was also called the Deshield Commission. The commission sought to reexamine the symbols and remove divisive aspects of them. The commission submitted their report on 24 January 1978. The report recommended changing the word "benighted" in the anthem to the word "undaunted". The proposed change to the anthem was never made.

Lyrics

Notes

References

External links

Liberian national anthem sang by a Liberian choir in a Baptist Church.archive link
African anthems Liberian music National symbols of Liberia National anthem compositions in B-flat major {{Anthem-stub