Curaçao is an island in the Caribbean, and part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Until October, 2010, it was also part of the Netherlands Antilles.

The anthem was first written in 1899 by a local clergyman of Dutch origin, and was put to music later (in the 1930s) by another priest, Frater Candidus. The current version of the anthem was re-written in 1978 by a four-person committee at the government’s request before the anthem was adopted officially, seemingly because the original lyrics were too colonial in nature.

The anthem has four couplets of which only the first and last are typically sung; all four are to be sung only for important government proceedings.

Special thanks to: Henri Moen for some of this information and Keith Terrett for the music file.