As an inclusionist measure, a new anthem was adopted for Bosnia and Hercegovina on June 25, 1999. It was originally without words until the lyrics could be written and agreed upon; the music itself was written under the title “Intermecco”, but the anthem is titled “Državna himna Bosne i Hercegovine” (The National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Nearly ten years later, in February, 2009, lyrics written by the composer of the piece, Dušan Šestić, along with Benjamin Isović, were accepted by a parliamentary commission, yet await official adoption by all levels of government, so the anthem still remains officially without words. While the lyrics don’t mention the different ethnicities or the two administrative areas of Bosnia (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which uses the national anthem, and Srpska, which uses their own anthem), the anthem concludes with “We go into the future, together”.

The anthem doesn’t seem to be all that popular in Bosnia, the various nationalities tending to use their own anthems (Serbia‘s or Srpska‘s by the Bosnian Serbs, Croatia‘s by Bosnian Croats, and the former anthem “Jedna si Jedina” by the Bosnian Muslims.)

Special thanks to: Miguel Tomàs Gómez Hernández for the sheet music and Ozren Arnautovic for some of this information.