Passing in front of the The Palace of the Military Club (in the photo) yesterday, I saw a blue banner with the following message “July 29th – National Anthem Day”. Searching on the web I found out that that July 29th was voted to become the National Anthem Day in 1998 to commemorate the date when our national anthem was sung for the first time, on 29 July 1848. Good. It only took me 10 years to find out about it 🙂 The national anthem of Romania is “Deşteaptă-te române” which translates as “Awaken thee, Romanian!” or “Wake Up, Romanian!” the larger meaning being “stand up for your rights”. The lyrics are by poet Andrei Mureşan, a Romanian poet and revolutionary sang to a popular tune chosen by him and a friend. Since them, the song was sung any time Romanians needed a message of liberty and patriotism. It became the national anthem in 1989, after the Romanian Revolution, replacing the communist-era “Three Colors” (Trei culori). The first paragraph goes like this:
Wake up, Romanian, from your deadly sleep
Into which you’ve been sunk by the barbaric tyrants
And now or never, your fate renew,
To which your enemies will bow too.
Now or never let’s give proof to the world
That in these veins still flows a Roman blood,
That in our chests we still maintain our pride in a name
The victor in his battles, the name of Trajan!