National anthem of England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Proposed National anthem of |  England |
|---|---|
| Adopted | None |
There is no official National anthem of England; generally the United Kingdom and Commonwealth anthem, "God Save the Queen", is used. There have been calls for a new national anthem to be adopted for England.
Contents |
[edit] Current anthems used in sport
At present, the following anthems are used:
- At international football matches England uses "God Save the Queen" as the national anthem.
- At international rugby union matches England uses "God Save the Queen" as the national anthem.
- At international test cricket matches, England have, since 2003, used "Jerusalem" as their entrance anthem.[1]
- At international rugby league matches, England have used "Land of Hope and Glory", but in the 2005 internationals changed to "God Save the Queen".
- At the Commonwealth Games, England uses "Land of Hope and Glory" as the victory anthem.
[edit] Proposed anthems
On 20 April 2007, Greg Mulholland, the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds North West, introduced an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons, proposing that England has its own national anthem. The EDM called for all English sporting associations to "adopt an appropriate song that English sportsmen and women, and the English public, would favour when competing as England."[2] There has also been an EDM calling for "Jerusalem" to be given official status as the national anthem of England, proposed by Daniel Kawczynski, the Conservative Party MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham on 18 October 2006.[3]
In April 2008 Greg Mulholland called for the England national rugby league team to replace "God Save the Queen" with an English national anthem at the Rugby League World Cup (RL World Cup) to be held in Australia in autumn 2008[4] and on 28 April he put forward another EDM in the House of Commons, noting that Scotland, Wales and Ireland who are also taking part in the RL World Cup, will all have their own national anthems, and therefore calling on England to use an English national anthem rather than the British national anthem, with the proposal that English rugby league fans should be given the chance to choose an English anthem.[5]
[edit] Jerusalem
The most well known version of the poem "And did those feet in ancient time" is the song "Jerusalem", with music by Hubert Parry, which was orchestrated by Edward Elgar in 1922 for a large orchestra at the Leeds Festival. Upon hearing the orchestral version for the first time, King George V said that he preferred that "Jerusalem" replace "God Save the King" as the national anthem. "Jerusalem" is also, as with "Land of Hope and Glory" performed at the annual Last Night of the Proms.
It was used as a campaign slogan by the Labour Party in the 1945 general election when Clement Attlee said they would build "a new Jerusalem". The song is also the unofficial anthem of the Women's Institute, and historically was used by the National Union of Suffrage Societies. It has also been sung at conferences of the Conservative Party.
It is frequently sung as an office or recessional hymn in English cathedrals, churches and chapels on St George's Day. The hymn is also sung in some churches on "Jerusalem Sunday"[citation needed], a day set aside to celebrate the Holy city of Jerusalem in Anglican Churches throughout the world and even in some Episcopal Churches in the United States. However some clergy in the Church of England have and refused to allow it in their churches on the grounds that it is too nationalistic and is not a prayer to God (which hymns always are).[6]
There have been calls to give "Jerusalem" official status[3].
In 2000 a rendition of "Jerusalem" by Fat Les was adopted by the English Football Association as the England football teams official song for the UEFA Euro 2000 competition.[7] And since 2004 it has been the entrance anthem of the England cricket team.[1]
[edit] Land of Hope and Glory
Land of Hope and Glory has long been traditionally played amidst much flag-waving at the climax of the Last Night of the BBC Proms.
At international rugby league matches, England often sang Land of Hope and Glory as their national anthem (but since the 2005 internationals switched to God Save the Queen). The song is also used as the national anthem of England at the Commonwealth Games[8] England has no official national anthem, and usually just adopts the United Kingdom's official anthem, God Save the Queen during sporting events, though there are calls for this to be changed.[9][10] A 2006 survey conducted by the BBC suggested that 55% of the English public would rather have Land of Hope and Glory than God Save the Queen as their national anthem.[11]
[edit] Other English patriotic songs
Other English patriotic songs which have been proposed as possible national anthems of England include traditional songs such as "Rose of England" an English patriotic song written by Ivor Novello in 1937 for his musical Crest of the Wave, and popularised by Vera Lynn during World War II. The flower to which the song's lyrics refer is one of England's national emblems, the Tudor Rose. Also, "There'll Always Be an England" an English patriotic song, written and distributed in 1940 and highly popular throughout World War II. It was composed and written by Ross Parker and Harry Par-Davies. The words were written by Hugh Charles, and the most popular version was sung by Vera Lynn. As well as modern patriotic songs such as "A Place called England" written by English folk singer Maggie Holland, which won the Best Original Song award at the 2000 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.[12]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Sing Jerusalem for England!". BBC News. 2005-09-06. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/4217144.stm. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
- ^ Mulholland, Greg (2007-04-20). "Early Day Motion EDM 1319, English National Anthem". House of Commons Information Office. http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=33094&SESSION=885. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
- ^ a b Kawczynski, Daniel (2006-10-18). "Early Day Motion EDM 2791, English National Anthem". House of Commons Information Office. http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=31408&SESSION=875. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
- ^ "World Cup RL anthem plea by Leeds MP". Yorkshire Evening Post. 2008-05-01. http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/World-Cup-RL-anthem-plea.4037405.jp. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
- ^ Mulholland, Greg (2008-04-28). "Early Day Motion EDM 1429, English National Anthem for the Rugby League World Cup". House of Commons Information Office. http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=35690&SESSION=891. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
- ^ Borland, Sophie (2008-04-18). "Cathedral bans popular hymn Jerusalem". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/10/njerusalem110.xml. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
- ^ "Fat Les score for England". BBC News. 2000-05-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/740796.stm. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
- ^ Anthem 4 England - Land of Hope and Glory
- ^ http://anthem4england.co.uk/
- ^ http://www.republic.org.uk/blog/?p=47
- ^ BBC survey on English national anthem
- ^ "BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Previous winners". BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/folk/folkawards2006/previouswinners.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
