"The Banner of Freedom" ( sm, "O Le Fua o Le Saolotoga o Sāmoa" ), known also as "" (; "Samoa, Arise") 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 Europea ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

. Both the words (which reference the country's flag) and the music were composed by Sauni Iiga Kuresa. The anthem was composed in response to a public competition to select a new anthem when the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

conferred self-government on Samoa in 1948 and was chosen from among 15 entries. It was performed publicly for the first time on 1 June 1948 and was subsequently played at all public ceremonies attended by the High Commissioner and performed after "

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 ...

" on official occasions. It was retained as the national anthem upon Samoa's gaining of independence from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1962. The anthem is recognised by the ''Official Flag and National Anthem of Samoa Act 1994''. When it is sung or played in public, people and vehicles must stop and remain stationary until the performance is complete.

Lyrics

Samoan original

English translations

Notes

References

External links

NationalAnthems.info's page on "The Banner of Freedom"
- includes audio recording {{DEFAULTSORT:Banner of Freedom Oceanian anthems Samoan music National symbols of Samoa 1962 songs National anthems National anthem compositions in A-flat major Samoan-language songs