"Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire" () is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n patriotic song dedicated to the

United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia ( ro, Principatele Unite ale Moldovei și Țării Românești), commonly called United Principalities, was the personal union of the Principality of Moldavia and the Principality of Wallachia, f ...

established in 1859. The text was written by and the music was composed by

Ciprian Porumbescu Ciprian Porumbescu (; born Cyprian Gołęmbiowski on 14 October 1853 – 6 June 1883) was a Romanian composer born in Șipotele Sucevei in Bukovina (now Shepit, Vyzhnytsia Raion, Ukraine). He was among the most celebrated Romanian composers ...

in 1880. Its tune is now used in the Albanian national anthem and allegedly in the anthem of the Dutch city of

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

. The song was an official anthem for the Party of the Nation, established in June 1940 by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. The eldest son of Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I in 1914. He was the first of th ...

as the basis for his authoritarian regime. In 1975, after a national contest for a new anthem,

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...

made this song 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 ...

of the

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian People ...

with lyrics modified by the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...

(PCR) to reference

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and title changed to "E scris pe tricolor Unire". However, since Albania already used the song since 1912, "

Trei culori Trei culori (; ) was the national anthem of the Socialist Republic of Romania from 1977 to 1990. On 24 January 1990, after the Romanian Revolution, it was officially replaced by " Deșteaptă-te, române!". Before 1977, the national anthem was ...

" ("Three colors") was adopted in 1977. On 28 January 2016, Romanian journalist George Roca published an article stating that the anthem of the Dutch city of Maastricht had been copied from "Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire". ''Mestreechs Volksleed'', adopted in 2002, had a great similarity to the Romanian song, so Roca compared both songs and the Albanian anthem. He said that, unlike the Albanians which were proud of the Romanian origin of their anthem, the Dutch "stole" the hymn even though they blocked Romania from entering the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...

for corruption claims. The controversy had a great impact on Romanian media, where news began to spread in several newspapers, as well as in Wikipedia. Months later, Roca declared satisfaction after seeing the effect that his article had had. Some residents of Maastricht have said this is just a coincidence and an article in the newspaper ''

De Limburger ''De Limburger'' is a Dutch newspaper covering the province of Limburg. The ''Limburgs Dagblad'' merged into ''De Limburger'' at the end 2017. Both newspapers were owned by Mediahuis. ''Dagblad De Limburger'', the previous name of ''De Limburger ...

'' explained that ''Mestreechs Volksleed'' originated from the closing song to the 1912 Dutch opera ''Trijn de Begijn'', made by

Alphonse Olterdissen Alphonse (Alfons) Olterdissen (Maastricht, December 12, 1865 - Maastricht, February 24, 1923) was a Dutch writer, poet and composer who wrote extensively in the Maastrichtian dialect. The final stanza of his opera ''Trijn de Begijn'' eventually b ...

(lyrics) and Guus Olterdissen (melody). It was also said that Olterdissen was unlikely to have been inspired by Romanian songs, as he used to use more nearby German and French ones. The similarities between the two songs have sparked fights on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

in which Romanians accuse Dutch people of having "stolen" the song even when Albanians "had the decency" of asking for it, while Dutch people reject these claims.

Lyrics

Original lyrics (1880)

Lyrics modified by the PCR

Nicolae Ceaușescu made the lyrics of this song the national anthem of

, but since

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

already used it, it was replaced in 1977. The modified lyrics were the following:

Notes

References

External links

* {{Romanian nationalism Socialist Republic of Romania Historical national anthems National symbols of Romania European anthems Romanian patriotic songs 1880 songs National anthems Romanian-language songs National anthem compositions in G major