Naprej, zastava slave

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Naprej, zastava slave, or Forward, Flag of Glory, is a famous Slovenian song written in 1860. It was the national anthem of Slovenia (as a part of Yugoslavia) until 1989 and is now the official service song of the Slovenian Armed Forces. The song is a patriotic poem that invites a boy to defend his homeland, putting the country before family or loved ones.

Lyrics were written by Simon Jenko and the music by Davorin Jenko. It was first performed publicly on 22 October 1860 in front of a Slavic audience and published later that year. In 1863 it was renamed Naprej, zastava Slave. In 1885 it became the first Slovene lyric translated into English as With Slava’s Banner, Forward! The English version was prepared by Andrej Jurtela and Alfred Lloyd Hardy, with Hardy arranging the melody for piano.

After the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed, the poem’s first and last stanzas were included in the Yugoslav anthem. Slovene soldiers sang it in 1918 during border fighting. In World War II, it was used as the intro melody of the Kričač radio by the Slovene Liberation Front and as part of the flag salute by the Slovene Partisans.

In 1946, Yugoslavia adopted a different national anthem, “Hey, Slavs.” Slovenia’s postwar constitutions did not name a regional anthem, but Naprej was used at official events from the 1970s. In 1989 it was replaced by Zdravljica as Slovenia moved toward independence. Since 1992 it has been played at ceremonial events in the Slovenian Territorial Defence, and in 1995 a government decree made Naprej the official service song of the Slovenian Armed Forces. The President of Slovenia may have it sung for him, or delegate the performance to another citizen.

Chorus themes focus on marching forward with the banner of glory, defending the homeland, and the sacrifices of soldiers and loved ones for the country.