Stand Ye Guamanians ( ch, label=

CHamoru Chamorro (; ch, Finuʼ Chamorro, links=no (CNMI), (Guam)) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 58,000 people (about 25,800 people on Guam and about 32,200 in the rest of the Mariana Islands and elsewhere). It is the native and spoken ...

, Fanohge CHamoru), officially known as the Guam Hymn ( ch, label=

, Kantikun Guahan), is the

regional anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. The original English lyrics and music were written and composed in 1919 by Ramon Manilisay Sablan. The lyrics were slightly modified by the U.S. government prior to official adoption in 1952. In 1974,

Lagrimas Leon Guerrero Untalan Lagrimas Leon Guerrero Untalan (1911–1997) was a Guamanian educator and politician. She served as a member of the Legislature of Guam between 1954 and 1956. Biography Untalan was born Lagrimas Pereira Leon Guerrero in Hagåtña in 1911, the ...

translated the English lyrics into CHamoru, which were made official in 1989. The CHamoru version is more widely used today. As a

United States dependency In the law of the United States, an insular area is a U.S.-associated jurisdiction that is not part of the 50 states or the District of Columbia. This includes fourteen U.S. territories administered under U.S. sovereignty, as well as three sove ...

, the official

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 ...

is still the " Star Spangled Banner", which is always played before the Guam Hymn on official occasions. The Guam Hymn, however, is played alone at international sports competitions.

History

The song was originally written in English and composed in 1919 by Ramon Manilisay Sablan (1901/02–1970), the first CHamoru medical doctor and a CHamoru rights activist. Sablan, who attended Oklahoma State College, was also a classically trained accomplished pianist and

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

player who also sat in the college orchestra's first violin section. He received his medical degree from the

University of Louisville School of Medicine The University of Louisville School of Medicine at the University of Louisville is a medical school located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Opened as the Louisville Medical Institute in 1837, it is one of the oldest medical schools in Nor ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. A February 1934 article in the ''Guam Recorder'' noted that the song had been sung customarily "for some years" during daily flag exercises in schools, alternating each day alongside another composition beginning with the line "All Hail to thee, our noble flag". After World War II, the U.S. government modified the lyrics of the song, such as changing the word "Chamorros" to "Guamanians" in the first line, before officially adopting it as the territorial anthem of Guam on 2 May 1952. Despite this, the song practically disappeared from public consciousness and was no longer regularly sung by children as it had been prior to the war. However, at the turn of the 1970s, a noticeable decline in the transmission of the CHamoru language to children led to the song gaining more attention once again. In 1974, amid a resurgence in pride at CHamoru language and culture, educator and politician

(1911–1997) translated the song into CHamoru for Guam's first bilingual CHamoru-language education program, known as ("Children's School"), which taught CHamoru to young children in public schools. On 31 January 1989, the CHamoru lyrics were made official. On 27 November 1991, it was made law for students to sing the anthem in CHamoru at school.

Lyrics

Notes

References

{{Authority control Guamanian culture Anthems of insular areas of the United States Oceanian anthems