Canada National Anthem Day (27/06)

Every year on June 27, Canada celebrates the important holiday — National Anthem Day.

The history of the emergence of the Canadian national anthem and the content of its texts perfectly reflect the unique binational character of the Canadian state. The anthem has two officially accepted versions, not entirely identical in content, — French and English.

During the years of British colonial rule in Canada, the melody of the anthem «God Save the Queen» was performed at official ceremonies and public meetings. When the dominion was formed, the song «Maple Leaf forever», composed in 1867, claimed the role of its «national song».

In contrast to this national song of the Anglo-Canadians, the national song of the French Canadians — «O Canada!» was composed («O Canada»). It was written in preparation for the holiday of Quebec (French province) by the famous Quebec composer Calixa Lavallee in one night based on poems by the former supreme judge of the province Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The anthem thus born was first performed in Quebec City on June 24, 1880, the day of the French Canadian national holiday.

Over the next two decades, the anthem «O Canada!» it gained enormous popularity in the province of Quebec, but did not go beyond its borders; it was performed exclusively in French. However, a consequence of the growing popularity of the anthem was that over time its English versions began to appear. The most popular of them, created by Judge Robert Stanley Weyer in 1908, later became the traditional English version of the anthem.

Since 1921, the anthem has been printed in school textbooks. The melody of the anthem began to be knocked out by the chimes on the Peace Tower, which crowns the Canadian Parliament building; it was performed at hockey matches, other sports and cultural events. However, until recently, Canada did not have an officially adopted national anthem.

It was not until 1964 that the Canadian government passed a resolution recognizing «O Canada!» the national anthem, and «God, keep the queen» the royal anthem.

This version of the anthem is based on Weyer's text and includes the 1968 amendments that were introduced by the Senate Select Joint Committee and the House of Commons. The French version of the text remained unchanged.

However, the corresponding act (law) was not adopted by parliament then. And only on June 27, 1980 — 100 years and 3 days after its first performance — «O Canada!» received the official status of the national anthem of Canada, enshrined in a special National Anthem Act, which came into force on this day in Canada.

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