Benin
"L'Aube Nouvelle" (The Dawn of a New Day)
Words by: Gilbert Jean Dagnon
Music by: Gilbert Jean Dagnon
Adopted: 1960
The national anthem was adopted upon independence as Dahomey in 1960. When the country was renamed to Benin in 1975, the anthem was retained (with the name of the country and its citizens changing appropriately), although the new two-syllable name had to fit the three-syllable space in the melody. The chorus is sometimes sung on its own before the verse(s).
MUSIC