Lithuanian national anthem

The History of Lithuanian State

the history of Lithuanian statehood goes back to the 13th century, when Grand Duke Mindaugas united all Lithuanian lands under one rule and was crowned the King of Lithuania on July 6th, 1253. 

During the following century Lithuanian borders were extended to the south and east, and at the end of the 14th century, during the reign of Grand Duke Vytautas (1392-1430) Lithuania became the largest state in Europe, its borders stretching from the Baltic Sea to the black Sea. 

At that time the state flag of the Great Duchy of Lithuania was red with a white Vytis (an armored knight riding a white stallion leaping forward, with the knight holding a raised sword high over his head). Cronicles mention that at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, the majority of the 40 Lithuanian regiments carried a red banner depicting a mounted knight, chasing an unseen enemy. Until the end of the 18th century, when they were annexed by the Russian Empire, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the successor states of Lithuania used the Vytis as their flag.This flag, known as the Vytis, would eventually be used as the Lithuanian war flag, and again in 2004 as the state flag.

During the era of national rebirth (end of 19th and beginning of 20th centuries) Lithuanians fought for and sought freedom for their country.After the 1905 revolution, and especially during World War I, Lithuania's hopes of re-establishing an independent state grew vigorously. The hypothesis of independence was not only possible but completely feasible. It was at this time that the question of a national flag for independent Lithuania arose.

                                 The question was especially widely debated in 1917 at the Conference of Vilnius. Several new proposals for flags were proposed. A flag commission composed of Dr. Jonas Basanavicius, artist Antanas Zmuidzinavicius and Tadas Daugirdas submitted a proposal which the Council of Lithuania adopted on April 19, 1918. The newly-adopted Lithuanian flag was composed of three equal horizontal stripes of yellow, green, and red. According to Dr. Basanavicius, the colors were selected because they recur most often in Lithuanian folk weavings arid other folk art. Today, they are explained as follows:

yellow. the fertile fields of Lithuania, golden with ripe rye, wheat, flax, and other grains;

 green : the symbol of the nation's vitality (as represented in nature also);

 red : the blood shed in defending the homeland's freedom.

 The adopted Lithuanian flag was also included in the Lithuanian Constitution. The tricolor was publicly raised for the first time on November 11, 1918 in Vilnius, at the Council of State building. It was widely used during Lithuania's independence until the first Bolshevik occupation in June 1940.

 After the long 48 years break, from 7 October of 1988, the tri-color flag of pre-war, independent Lithuania is raised on Gediminas Castle.

    

Lithuanian Anthem

Tautiška giesmė (The National Hymn) is the national anthem of Lithuania, also known by its opening words "Lietuva, Tėvyne mūsų" ( "Lithuania, Our Homeland", literally: "Lithuania, Our Fatherland", ) and as "Lietuvos himnas" (Hymn of Lithuania). The music and lyrics were written in 1898 by Vincas Kudirka, when Lithuania was still a part of the Russian Empire. The fifty-word poem was a condensation of Kudirka's conceptions of the Lithuanian state, the Lithuanian people, and their past. Shortly before his death in 1899, the anthem was performed for Lithuanians living in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The first public Lithuanian performance of the anthem took place in Vilnius in 1905, and it became the official national anthem in 1919, a year after Lithuania declared its independence. Following the annexation of Lithuania in 1940, by the Soviet Union, the anthem was forbidden to be played or sung in public.
"Tautiška giesmė" was reinstated as the national anthem in 1992, when the new Constitution was ratified after independence from the Soviet Union was achieved. The status of "Tautiška giesmė" as the National Anthem of Lithuania was further confirmed in 1999 with the passage of a national law stating that.

Lietuva, Tėvyne mūsų,
Tu didvyrių žeme,
Iš praeities Tavo sūnūs
Te stiprybę semia.

Tegul Tavo vaikai eina
Vien takais dorybės,
Tegul dirba Tavo naudai
Ir žmonių gėrybei.

Tegul saulė Lietuvoj
Tamsumas prašalina,
Ir šviesa, ir tiesa
Mūs žingsnius telydi.

Tegul meilė Lietuvos
Dega mūsų širdyse,
Vardan tos, Lietuvos
Vienybė težydi!

Official English translation

Lithuania, our homeland,
Land of heroes!
Let your sons draw their strength
From our past experience

Let your children always follow
Only roads of virtue,
May your own, mankind’s well-being
Be the goals they work for

May the sun above our land
Banish darkening clouds around
Light and truth all along
Guide our steps forever

May the love of Lithuania
Brightly burn in our hearts.
For the sake of this land
Let unity blossom.