"Cant de la Senyera" ("Song of The

Senyera The Senyera (; meaning "pennon", "standard", "banner", "ensign", or, more generically, "flag" in Catalan language, Catalan) is a vexillological symbol based on the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which consists of four red stripes on a yel ...

lag Lag, or similar, may refer to: Lag * Łąg, Poland * Lag (company), a French guitar maker * Lag (cue sports), a brief pre-game competition to determine which player will go first * Latency (engineering), a slower response time in computing, commu ...

) is a composition for mixed chorus with music by

Lluís Millet Lluís Millet i Pagès (18 April 1867 in El Masnou – 7 December 1941 in Barcelona) was a Spanish Catalan composer, musician and co-founder of Orfeó Català in 1891. A student of Felip Pedrell, from 1896 he taught choral music at Barcelona's ...

, lyrics based on a poem by

Joan Maragall Joan Maragall i Gorina (; 10 October 1860 in Barcelona – 20 December 1911) was a Spanish poet, journalist and translator, the foremost member of the ''modernisme'' movement in literature. His manuscripts are preserved in the Joan Maragall ...

, composed expressly to be the hymn of the Orfeó Català choral group in the

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

community of Spain. It debuted at

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

in 1896, in a ceremony in honor of the

, a traditional flag of the crown of Aragon which serves as the basis for other regional flags, including that of Catalonia.

Prohibition

The song was prohibited from 1939 to 1960 under the regime of Spanish ''caudillo''

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

, as part of Franco's ban on Catalan language and culture. In 1960, while Franco was on a rare visit to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, four of his ministers, including Minister of the Interior

Camilo Alonso Vega Camilo Alonso Vega (29 May 1889 – 1 July 1971) was a Spanish military officer and minister. Early life A childhood friend of Francisco Franco, as a Captain he entered in the Foreign Legion and fought in the Rif War. He was initially assigned ...

, attended the centennial ceremony for Maragall at the Palace of Catalan Music. The Civil Governor of Barcelona, Felipe Acedo, had authorized the concert, but forbade the playing of the "Cant" despite its being based on Maragall's work. - ''Don Felipe Acedo concluyó por autorizar el concierto, pero manteniendo la prohibición expresa y terminante de interpretar el Cant de la Senyera, prohibición mantenida no obstante advertírsele que- bastaba esa prohibición para que se '' The orchestra played a musical arrangement of ''Cant de la Senyera'', upon which a number of Catalan nationalists stood up and sang along, marking a key turning point in the history of Catalan nationalism, a happening known as the '' Fets del Palau de la Música'' ("Events of the Palace of Music"). Several people were arrested for singing along, and one,

Jordi Pujol Jordi Pujol Soley (, born 9 June 1930) is a Catalan politician who was the leader of the party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) from 1974 to 2003, and President of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1980 to 2003. Early life Pujol was ...

, who would later become

President of Catalonia The President of the Government of Catalonia ( ca, President de la Generalitat de Catalunya, ) is one of the bodies that the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia stipulates as part of the Generalitat de Catalunya, others being the Parliament, the gov ...

, was arrested, tortured, and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Role

The song served as a de facto Catalan anthem, alongside "

Els Segadors "Els Segadors" (, ; "The Reapers") is the official national anthem of Catalonia, nationality and autonomous community of Spain. History The original song dates in the oral tradition to 1640, based on the events of June 1640 known as ''Corpus ...

", though the latter was only made official in 1993.

Lyrics

References

{{Authority control Catalan music Catalan nationalism Flag anthems