The ‘Star Spangled Banner’ has been the US national anthem since 1931, and “God Save The Queen” has been around since 1745. The Swiss, after having a ‘National Psalm’ for just 33 years, are already looking for something new:

• The ‘original’ Swiss national anthem was written in 1811, but set to the tune of “God Save The Queen”. This caused some understandable confusion at sporting events, and was scrapped.
• In 1841 a Swiss monk composed a hymn that became a hit, and surged to popularity, becoming the ‘Swiss Psalm’ in…1981.
• The lyrics of the Psalm are now causing an issue. In a secular nation, singing about God (plus mountains and thunderstorms) feels a little uncomfortable. Though, most Swiss don’t actually know all the lyrics anyway.
• And so there is to be a contest to choose a new anthem. With a jury of 30 including yodelling experts, a slam poet, a theology professor and a rapper, but even if they can agree the government may not.

For more information, check out the Economist over here, or the BBC over here

Source: The Economist