"" (, ) 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 ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Ruy Mingas Ruy Alberto Vieira Dias Rodrigues Mingas (12 May 1939 – 4 January 2024) was an Angolan singer, songwriter, diplomat, businessman and politician. He was a deputy in the National Assembly, secretary with the status of Minister of Sports and amba ...

composed the music, while the lyrics were authored by Manuel Rui. It was adopted as the national anthem in November 1975, when the country gained its independence from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. The lyrics make reference to several key events of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which has been in power since independence and was the only party in Angola until 1992.

History

"Angola Avante" was composed by Ruy Mingas. The lyrics to the song were penned by Manuel Rui Alves Monteiro (1941–), an author who studied in

Huambo Huambo, formerly Nova Lisboa (English language, English: ''New Lisbon''), is the third-most populous List of cities and towns in Angola, city in Angola, after the capital city Luanda and Lubango, with a population of 595,304 in the city and a pop ...

and is affiliated with both the country's Writer Union and Union of Artists and Composers. He is one of the best-selling writers in the capital city

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

– according to an "informal survey" conducted in July 2003 – and writes about "everyday life" in the country using

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

and

irony Irony, in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what, on the surface, appears to be the case with what is actually or expected to be the case. Originally a rhetorical device and literary technique, in modernity, modern times irony has a ...

. The song was officially designated as the country's national anthem in 1975, when the country gained independence on 11 November that year. It is enshrined under Article 164 of the

constitution of Angola Since the Angolan War of Independence from Portugal in 1975, Angola has had three constitutions. The first came into force in 1975 as an "interim" measure; the second was approved in a 1992 referendum, and the third one was instituted in 2010. ...

Proposed changes

Its lyrics refer to several key events in the history of the MPLA. However, this has been rendered "obsolete" since the end of the one-party state in 1992. As a result, there have been efforts to modify the national anthem, along with other national symbols. However, none of these have come to fruition, and the anthem remains unchanged as of 2014.

Lyrics

The lyrics of "Angola Avante" allude to how the country and its people will progress forward in the future. It has been classified by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

''′s Ivan Hewett as one of several contemporary national anthems that convey "a more martial tone" inspired by "

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. It was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by the First French Republic against Austria, and was originally titled "". The French Na ...

". The latter third of both verses is usually considered refrain and repeated; the chorus is also repeated twice during each rendition.

Portuguese (official language)

Kikongo (national language)

English translation

In popular culture

The name of the national anthem is used as a nickname for an inter-community association football competition held to boost sports activities both in Angola and among people from the

Portuguese-speaking African countries The Portuguese-speaking African countries (; PALOP), also known as Lusophone Africa, consist of six African countries in which the Portuguese language is an official language: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Prínci ...

(PALOP) living in

. Hosted in Portugal in 2011 and 2013, the latter tournament featured teams from

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

, and

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...

. The 2011 sporting event coincided with and honoured the 36th anniversary of the independence of Angola.

Notes

References

External links

MP3 file
{{Authority control Music of Angola African anthems National symbols of Angola Compositions in C major Communist songs