Chile

Words by: Eusebio Lillo Robles
Music by: Ramón Carnicer y Battle
Adopted: 1828 (music), 1847 (lyrics)

Chile's anthem is another example of a "Latin American epic anthem", this one having six verses, yet only the fifth verse and the chorus is deemed "official".

Chile's first national anthem, commissioned by the government in 1819, was composed by Manuel Robles and written by Bernardo de Vera y Pintado and was first performed either later that year or the following year. Falling into unpopularity by 1828, the government requested that Ramón Carnicer compose new music for the anthem, using Bernardo de Vera's text. Then, in 1847, the government ordered the young poet Eusebio Lillo to write a new text to Carnicer's melody, to replace the original lyrics of de Vera y Pintado, which contained violent references against Spain. While Lillo wrote new lyrics, he kept the chorus from the original anthem. Today, the chorus and fifth verse of Lillo's poem make up the official national anthem of Chile.

Following the coup d'etat by Augusto Pinochet in 1973, the military junta dictated that two verses would be used along with the chorus: the fifth verse was retained, and the third verse, which extolled Chile's army, was then added as the second official verse. It was a common act of protest by detractors to remain silent during the second verse. When democracy was restored in 1990, the government removed the military verse and restored the anthem as it was before the coup; today, supporters of the past military government still sing the third verse.