The National Anthem of Zimbabwe, also known by its

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

, "" (), and the final line of each verse in

Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana Languages * Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele *Northern Ndebele language Northern ...

, "" (), was introduced in March 1994 after a nationwide competition to replace the South African-derived "

Ishe Komborera Africa "Ishe Komborera Africa" (Shona for: God Bless Africa), also called "Ishe Komborera Zimbabwe" (Shona for: God Bless Zimbabwe), was the Zimbabwean national anthem from 1980 to 1994. It was the country's first national anthem after gaining independ ...

" with a distinctly

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an song. The winning entry was a

song written by Professor

Solomon Mutswairo Solomon Mangwiro Mutswairo, also spelt Mutsvairo (26 April 1924 – November 2005), was a Zimbabwean novelist and poet. A member of the Zezuru people of central Zimbabwe, he wrote the first novel in the Shona language, ''Feso''. In his late ye ...

and composed by Fred Changundega. It was translated into English and

, the two other main languages of Zimbabwe. The Ndebele version is mainly sung in the

Matebeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi r ...

regions of Zimbabwe, while the English version is not commonly sung. Some schools in

Matabeleland South Matabeleland South is a province in southwestern Zimbabwe. With a population of 683,893 as of the 2012 Zimbabwean census, it is the country's least populous province. After Matabeleland North, it is Zimbabwe's second-least densely populated p ...

have introduced the

Sotho Sotho may refer to: *Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana * Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...

version.

Lyrics

Because Zimbabwe has 16 national languages, the lyrics of the original Shona song were translated into the other 15 national languages as part of the 2013 constitutional reforms. The official texts were laid out in the 2013 Constitution, however the final English text in the Constitution varied from the more poetic and metrical version that had been in common usage up to that point and remains so today. Both the new official text and the more common variant are listed below. In spite of all the translations being official and of equal standing according to the Constitution, the Shona and Ndebele versions remain the two most prevalent variants in regular usage.

English lyrics

Shona and Ndebele lyrics

In other regional languages

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Anthem Of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean culture National symbols of Zimbabwe National anthem compositions in G major