Veillons au salut de l'Empire (''Let's ensure the salvation of the Empire'') was the unofficial French

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 ...

under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

History

The lyrics were written in the later months of 1791 by Adrien-Simon Boy, who was the chief surgeon of the

Army of the Rhine An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. Boy would only have written the first three verses, as the fourth would be added in 1810 by an unknown author. The song's melody was from ''Vous qui d’amoureuse aventure, courez et plaisirs et dangers'' of the comedic opera ''Renaud d'Ast'' (1787) by

Nicolas Dalayrac Nicolas-Marie d'Alayrac (; bapt. 13 June 175326 November 1809), nicknamed the Musician poet, more commonly Nicolas Dalayrac, was a French composer of the Classical period. Intended for a military career, he made the acquaintance of many mu ...

Lyrics

1791 compositions Songs of the French Revolution French anthems National symbols of France French patriotic songs Historical national anthems {{Anthem-stub