"Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free" is 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 ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. The tune is taken from the hymn "

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (, ) is a Christian hymn originally composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Xhosa people, Xhosa clergyman at a Methodism, Methodist mission school near Johannesburg. The song became a pan-African liberation song and ver ...

" (), which was composed by

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

composer

Enoch Sontonga Enoch Mankayi Sontonga ( – 18 April 1905) was a South African composer, who is best known for writing the Xhosa hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (), which, in abbreviated version, has been sung as the first half of the national anthem of South ...

, in 1897. The lyrics were composed after Zambian independence to specifically reflect Zambia, as opposed to Sontonga's lyrics, which refer to Africa as a whole.

History

"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" started to become popular in South Africa in 1923 as a Christian hymn. It became a closing hymn for

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) meetings and later became a symbolic song for black struggle against the Apartheid regime. Its popularity spread across Africa through churches, and the tune became associated with

African nationalism African nationalism is an umbrella term which refers to a group of political ideologies in sub-Saharan Africa, which are based on the idea of national self-determination and the creation of nation states.continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

, particularly in

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

and

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

. Following the passing of the

Zambia Independence Act 1964 The Zambia Independence Act 1964 (1964 c. 65) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which granted independence to Zambia (formerly the protectorate of Northern Rhodesia) with effect from 24 October 1964. It also provided for the c ...

in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, enacting Zambia's independence from the United Kingdom, "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" was adopted as the national anthem of Zambia, replacing "

God Save the Queen "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...

", the anthem of

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

. In 1973, having used "Nkosi Sikeleli Africa" for over 9 years, it was decided that new lyrics set to the tune of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" would be needed for Zambia's national anthem. A national competition was held for the new words. However, none of the entries were deemed good enough to be used in full for the anthem. As a result, six of the entries were merged to create "Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free", and the entrants selected were awarded prizes. The authors credited for the composition were G. Ellis, E.S. Musonda, J.M.S. Lichilana, I. Lowe, J. Sajiwandani and R.J. Seal. In September 1973, the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

passed the National Anthem Act, which legally defined the English lyrics of "Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free" as the national anthem of Zambia. The Act also made it an offence to "insult or bring into contempt or ridicule" the anthem and granted the

President of Zambia The president of Zambia is the head of state and the head of government of Zambia. The office was first held by Kenneth Kaunda following independence in 1964. Since 1991, when Kaunda left the presidency, the office has been held by seven othe ...

the rights to prescribe how the anthem is sung and to restrict its use.

Lyrics

On occasions requiring brevity, usually the first verse and chorus are sung.

Criticism

In 2005, Zambian women's groups petitioned for a number of the lyrics in "Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free" to be changed, because they felt that they were too male orientated. In response, it was decreed that the current lyrics did include women in context, and it was stated that "Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free" was "composed of historical lyrics that reflect the country's heritage." In 2012, Professor Michelo Hansungule repeated the concerns that the Zambian national anthem was too masculine. He also argued that because it had the same tune as the

national anthem of South Africa The National Anthem of South Africa was adopted in 1997 and is a hybrid song combining extracts of the 19th century Xhosa hymn " xh, Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, label=none" ( en, "God Bless Africa", ) and the Afrikaans song which was used as the S ...

, it might have intellectual property implications and suggested that Zambia's sovereignty could be questioned.

References

3. https://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/acts/National%20Anthem%20Act.pdf

External links

Zambia: "Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free" - Audio of the national anthem of Zambia, with information and lyrics
{{Authority control National anthems National symbols of Zambia African anthems Zambian songs National anthem compositions in G major

History

Lyrics

Criticism

See also

References

External links