Originally written and composed by a Bulgarian student in 1885, as he went off to fight in the Serbo-Bulgarian war, the song was titled “Горда Стара планина” (“Gorda Stara planina”) [Proudly Rise the Balkan Peaks]. The original lyrics have undergone revisions since its original composition, the latest after the fall of the communist government in 1990 where verses not in the original lyrics speaking of friendship with Russia, the Communist Party, and fallen fighters were removed. As the national anthem its name comes from the first line of the chorus rather than the first line of the verse.
Special thanks to: Grigor Bantchev for some of this information, Pavel Zinovatny for the sheet music and Mihail Peshev for a correction to the lyrics.