Belgium national anthem lyrics in English: Explaining La Brabançonne translation, history and more

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Belgium face Spain in Friday's World Cup quarterfinal in Los Angeles, off the back of a 4-1 demolition of the United States in the round of 16 that sent the Red Devils into the final eight. Before kickoff, as always, comes La Brabançonne, one of the more unusual national anthems in world football, a song with three official language versions for a country with three official languages.

Here's what the anthem says, who wrote it, and the history behind it.

Belgium national anthem lyrics in English​

Belgium's officially recognised anthem text is a single verse, the same one across all three language versions. Translated into English, it reads:

O beloved Belgium, sacred land of our fathers,
Our heart and soul are dedicated to you.
Our strength and the blood of our veins we offer,
Be our goal, in work and battle.
Prosper, O country, in unbreakable unity,
Always be yourself and free.
Trust in the word that, undaunted, you can speak:
For King, for Freedom and for Law.

That closing line, "For King, for Freedom and for Law," is Belgium's national motto, rendered in French as "Le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté."

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Why does Belgium have three anthem languages?​

Belgium is a federal country with three official languages, Dutch, French and German, and the anthem reflects that directly. The song is called "La Brabançonne" in French, "De Brabançonne" in Dutch, and "Das Lied von Brabant" in German, and each language has its own officially sanctioned version of the lyrics.

At major national occasions, including Belgian National Day on July 21, it has become common to sing a short combined version that switches between Dutch, French and German line by line rather than performing a single language in full, a nod to the country's federal make-up.

Who wrote La Brabançonne?​

The anthem was written in September 1830 during the Belgian Revolution, the uprising that led to Belgian independence from the Netherlands. According to the traditional account, the lyrics came from a young revolutionary and actor known by the pen name "Jenneval," whose real name was Alexandre Dechet. He was killed fighting in the war of independence shortly after writing the words.

The music was composed separately by François van Campenhout, based on the tune of an earlier French song. It was first performed later that same month, in September 1830.

Belgium's national anthem history​

Belgium didn't formally adopt the song and music as its national anthem until 1860, three decades after the revolution that inspired it. Even then, changes kept coming: then-prime minister Charles Rogier rewrote the lyrics to strip out language directly attacking the Dutch royal House of Orange, softening what had originally been a piece of revolutionary protest music into a more conventional patriotic anthem.

The version sung today wasn't locked in until 1921, when Belgium's Ministry of the Interior issued a decree stating that only the fourth verse of Rogier's text would be considered official, in all three languages. Everything else written for the anthem over the previous 90 years, including Jenneval's original revolutionary verses, was left out of the official version entirely.

It means the anthem Belgium's players will sing before facing Spain on Friday is, technically, only a fragment of a much longer and more turbulent song, trimmed down over nearly a century into the eight lines that now represent the country on football's biggest stage.

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