National Anthem

Click here to listen to the Guatemalan National Anthem (mp3 format)

Anthem of the Republic of Guatemala

Music by Rafael Alvarez Ovalle (1896)
Lyrics by José Joaquín Palma (1896)

SPANISH LYRICS

¡Guatemala feliz! que tus aras
No profane jamás el verdugo;
Ni haya esclavos que laman el yugo
Ni tiranos que escupan tu faz.
Si mañana tu suelo sagrado
Lo amenaza invasión extranjera,
Libre al viento tu hermosa bandera
A vencer o a morir llamará.

CHORUS:

Libre al viento tu hermosa bandera
A vencer o a morir llamará;
Que tu pueblo con ánima fiera
Antes meurto q'esclavo será.

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Fortunate Guatemala! May your altars
Never be profaned by cruel men.
May there never be slaves who submit to their yoke,
Or tyrants who deride you.
If tomorrow your sacred soil
Should be threatened by foreign invasion,
Your fair flag, flying freely in the wind,
Will call to you: Conquer or die.

CHORUS:
Your fair flag, flying freely in the wind,
Will call to you: Conquer or die;
For your people, with heart and soul,
Would prefer death to slavery.