"" ("Let us unite, let us become brothers") is the officially recognised anthem of New Caledonia. It was written by a group from the children's choir Mélodia in 2008 and officially adopted in 2010. It is not 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 Europea ...

of New Caledonia; as a special collectivity of France, the national anthem is the French national anthem, "

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

". During official ceremonies or sports events, "La Marseillaise" is performed first, followed by "Soyons unis, devenons frères".

History

In 1998, the

Nouméa Accord The Nouméa Accord of 1998 is a promise by the French Republic to grant increased political power to New Caledonia and its original population, the Kanaks, over a twenty-year transition period. It was signed 5 May 1998 by Lionel Jospin, and app ...

delegated greater autonomy to the territory and provided that its people would ultimately have the right to vote for full independence, in 2014 at the earliest and in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

at the latest. In the meantime, the Accord provided for the gradual recognition of five "identity signs": an anthem, a motto, local symbols on New Caledonian currency, a flag and a potential new name for the territory. For the anthem, a competition was held by the Government of New Caledonia in 2008. The winning entry was written in January 2008 by seven New Caledonian children between the ages of 10 and 13 from the children's choral group Mélodia. It was performed for the first time on 26 June 2008. On 18 August 2010, the

Congress of New Caledonia The Congress of New Caledonia (french: Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie), a "territorial congress" (''congrès territorial'' or ''congrès du territoire''), is the legislature of New Caledonia. It has 54 members who serve five-year terms, s ...

officially adopted the anthem, alongside an official motto (""; "Land of speech, land of sharing") and local symbols on New Caledonian currency. There was not yet agreement on recognition of a flag or a new name for the territory at the time. Congress deputies reserved the possibility of amending the lyrics of the anthem at a later date."La Nouvelle-Calédonie se dote d'un hymne et d'une devise"
''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', 18 August 2010

Lyrics

In its long version, the anthem consists of three verses and a chorus. The verses are sung in French; the chorus is sung in Nengone then in French. There were initial plans to translate it eventually into other indigenous languages, which were carried out in the years following the anthem's creation. When only the short version of the anthem is sung, it consists of the third verse and the chorus (in Nengone and French).

Original Nengone chorus

The following is the original chorus in Nengone written by the Mélodia choir in 2008.

In other languages

On 24 September 2016, for New Caledonia Day (or Citizenship Day), the Mélodia choral performed a version of the anthem that included the chorus sung in several additional languages, including indigenous languages, Chinese,

Réunion Creole Réunion Creole, or Reunionese Creole ( rcf, kréol rénioné; french: créole réunionnais), is a French-based creole language spoken on Réunion. It is derived mainly from French and includes terms from Malagasy, Hindi, Portuguese, Gujarat ...

and several European languages.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soyons unis, devenons freres 2008 compositions Politics of New Caledonia Oceanian anthems French anthems New Caledonian culture National anthem compositions in F major