Sweden
"Sång till Norden" (Song of the North)
"Du Gamla, Du Fria" (Thou Ancient, Thou Free)

Words by: Richard Dybeck
Music by: traditional
In use since: 1844

Sweden's anthem was written in 1844. The author of the lyrics chose a Swedish folk tune from the province of Västmanland to set his words to to create the anthem. The song was created at a time when a "pan-Scandinavian" movement was strong, which is why it is a "Song to the North" instead of just to Sweden. This has led to other verses being written that are more patriotic to Sweden, but these additional verses have never gained popularity and have never been considered part of the national anthem.

In the late 19th century the anthem started to be considered as Sweden's "national anthem", differentiating it from the royal anthem that was being used as both a royal and national anthem. The anthem has never been officially legislated as Sweden's national anthem, one attempt in the 1930s by a member of parliament brought forth claims of wanting state controlled patriotism by the opposition. (However, a bill in 1960 which attempted to make a different song the national anthem was defeated, which indirectly gave official support to "Sång till Norden".)

Special thanks to: Elias Granqvist, Lars C. Stolt, Ola Nenzelius, and Josh Lim for some of the information.

See also: Sweden (royal anthem).