National Anthem

All Hail Liberia Hail

Verse I

All hail, Liberia, hail! (All hail!)
All hail, Liberia, hail! (All hail!)
This glorious land of liberty,
Shall long be ours.

Though new her name,
Green be her fame,
And mighty be her powers,

And mighty be her powers,
And mighty be her powers.

In joy and gladness,
With our hearts united,
We’ll shout the freedom,
Of a race benighted.
Long live Liberia, happy land!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God’s command!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God’s command!

Verse II

All hail, Liberia, hail! (All hail!)
All hail, Liberia, hail! (All hail!)
In union strong success is sure.
We cannot fail!

With God above,
Our rights to prove,
We will o’er all prevail,

We will o’er all prevail,
We will o’er all prevail!

With heart and hand our country’s cause defending,
We’ll meet the foe with valour unpretending.
Long live Liberia, happy land!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God’s command!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God’s command!

Background

The lyrics of the Liberian National Anthem were written in 1847 by Daniel Bashiel Warner who later became the 3rd President of Liberia. The music was composed by Liberian poet and musician Olmstead Luca in the early 1860s. Luca was from a mulatto family that settled in Liberia from the American South.

Sources

All Hail Liberia Hail. National Anthems of the World. 2013.

Büttikofer, Johann. Travel Sketches from Liberia : Johann Buttikofer’s 19th Century Rainforest Explorations in West Africa: Annotated English Edition, edited by Henk Dop, and Phillip T. Robinson, BRILL, 2012.

Johnston, Harry Hamilton, Sir, 1858-1927. Liberia. New York: Dodd, Mead & company, 1906.

Starr, Frederick, 1858-1933. Liberia: Description, History, Problems. Chicago: [s.n.], 1913.