# Bože pravde

"Bože pravde" (Serbian: Боже правде, Serbian pronunciation:; 'O God of Justice') is the national anthem of Serbia, as defined by the Article 7 of the Constitution of Serbia. "Bože pravde" was adopted in 1882 and had been the national anthem of the Kingdom of Serbia until 1919 when Serbia became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was re-adopted as the national anthem at first by the parliamentary recommendation in 2004 and then constitutionally sanctioned in 2006, after Serbia restored its independence.

## History

Before Serbia had an official national anthem, there were several songs that were unofficially used in this manner. The most popular of these was "Rado ide Srbin u vojnike" also known as "Graničarska pesma" (Granichary Song), which was written in 1844 by Vasa Živković on a melody composed by Nikola Đurković. It was used as a Serbian anthem during the Revolution of 1848.
The first initiative to create an official Serbian anthem came from Prince Mihailo in 1865. He hired (through the Ministry of Education) poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, to write lyrics, and composer Kornelije Stanković, to compose a melody for a new anthem. This anthem was created, but was not adopted, and was soon completely forgotten. Although it had no title, the first verse of this anthem was also "Bože pravde".
After the assassination of Prince Mihailo in 1868, Prince Milan came to the throne. In 1872, celebrating his coming of age, he ordered a play from the manager of the National Theater in Belgrade, Jovan Đorđević. Đorđević quickly wrote and presented the play "Markova sablja" (Marko's sword), with the aim of glorifying Serbian history and the ruling house of Obrenović. The song "Bože pravde", composed by Davorin Jenko, was part of the play's musical score. The song gained more popularity among the people than the piece itself, and in 1882, on the occasion of Milan's enthronement as Serbian king, Đorđević reworked the text and so his new version became the first official anthem of Serbia.
In 1903, after the May Coup, the Obrenović dynasty died out and the house of Karađorđević came to the helm of Serbia. A competition for a new anthem was announced. It was won by Aleksa Šantić with a song titled "Bože, na polja zemlje ove" for which he wrote both lyrics and melody, but this new anthem was not officially adopted. Eventually, in 1909, King Peter I decided to make the anthem "Bože pravde" official again, with minor changes to the text.
Various rulers of Serbia changed the words of the anthem to suit them. During the rule of Prince Milan I, the words were knez Milana Bože spasi ('God save Prince Milan'), which was changed to kralj Milana Bože spasi ('God save King Milan'), when Serbia became a kingdom. It was later tailored to Alexander I with the verse kralja Aleksandra Bože spasi ('God save King Alexander'), and Peter I with kralja Petra Bože spasi ('God save King Peter') as well.
During World War I, in the territories of Serbia occupied by Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, the performance of the national anthem, as well as the display of the symbols of the Kingdom of Serbia, was prohibited. During the time of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (which later became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), "Bože pravde" was part of its national anthem. On the eve of the World War II, at the great international gathering of the Music Confederation, held in Paris, this anthem was declared one of the three most beautiful in the world.
"Bože pravde" was officially abandoned and banned after the World War II in 1945, in favour of "Hej, Sloveni" ('Hey, Slavs'), which was the national anthem of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for 47 years, from 1945 to 1992. After the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991-1992, only Serbia and Montenegro remained in the federation (i.e. the newly-formed Serbia and Montenegro), but since no agreement over the anthem could be reached, "Hej, Sloveni" remained the national anthem. Many Serbs disliked the song during this period and booed it whenever it was played, such as at sporting events. In 1992, "Vostani Serbije" and "March on the Drina" were proposed as the anthem of Serbia along with "Bоže pravde". "March on the Drina", popularized by then-ruling Socialist Party of Serbia, even received a plurality of popular vote on referendum, but was never officially adopted.
The recommendation on the use of "Bože pravde" was adopted unanimously by the National Assembly in 2004 and constitutionally sanctioned in 2006, after Serbia restored its independence, while the recommended text was promulgated into the law in 2009. It utilizes slightly modified original lyrics, asserting that Serbia is no longer a monarchy — all the verses that had a monarchist overtone were changed. In three verses, srpskog kralja ('Serbian king') was changed to srpske zemlje ('Serbian lands'), and the verse srpskog kralja Bože hrani ('God save the Serbian king') was changed to Bože spasi, Bože brani ('God protect, God defend'). In public performances, the verses Bože spasi, Bože hrani ('God protect, God bless') and srpske zemlje, srpski rod ('Serbian lands, Serbian race') are often sung on the repeat as Srbiju nam Bože brani ('Our Serbia, God defend') and moli ti se sаv naš rod ('our whole race prays to you'), respectively.
"Bože pravde" was also used until 2006 as the regional anthem of the Republika Srpska, a constituency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, when it was ruled down by the country's constitutional court for being unconstitutional and replaced with Moja Republika.

## Lyrics

The full Serbian national anthem as officially defined consists of eight stanzas, but usually only the first two are performed on public occasions for reasons of brevity. The third verse is also usually omitted in full performances.
| Serbian Cyrillic | Serbian Latin | IPA transcription | Poetic English translation |
| I Боже правде, ти што спасе од пропасти досад нас, чуј и одсад наше гласе и од сад нам буди спас. Моћном руком води, брани будућности српске брод, 𝄆 Боже спаси, Боже xрани, српске земље, српски род! 𝄇 II Сложи српску браћу драгу на свак дичан славан рад, слога биће пораз врагу а најјачи српству град. Нек на српској блиста грани братске слоге златан плод, 𝄆 Боже спаси, Боже xрани српске земље, српски род! 𝄇 III Нек на српско ведро чело твог не падне гнева гром Благослови Србу село поље, њиву, град и дом! Кад наступе борбе дани к победи му води ход 𝄆 Боже спаси, Боже xрани српске земље, српски род! 𝄇 IV Из мрачнога сину гроба српске славе нови сјај настало је ново доба Нову срећу, Боже дај! Отаџбину српску брани петвековне борбе плод 𝄆 Боже спаси, Боже брани моли ти се српски род! 𝄇 | I Bože pravde, ti što spase od propasti dosad nas, čuj i odsad naše glase i od sad nam budi spas. Moćnom rukom vodi, brani budućnosti srpske brod, 𝄆 Bože spasi, Bože hrani, srpske zemlje, srpski rod! 𝄇 II Složi srpsku braću dragu na svak dičan slavan rad, sloga biće poraz vragu a najjači srpstvu grad. Nek na srpskoj blista grani bratske sloge zlatan plod, 𝄆 Bože spasi, Bože hrani srpske zemlje, srpski rod! 𝄇 III Nek na srpsko vedro čelo tvog ne padne gneva grom Blagoslovi Srbu selo polje, njivu, grad i dom! Kad nastupe borbe dani k pobedi mu vodi hod 𝄆 Bože spasi, Bože hrani srpske zemlje, srpski rod! 𝄇 IV Iz mračnoga sinu groba srpske slave novi sjaj nastalo je novo doba Novu sreću, Bože daj! Otadžbinu srpsku brani petvekovne borbe plod 𝄆 Bože spasi, Bože brani moli ti se srpski rod! 𝄇 | 1 [bôː.ʒe prâːʋ.de tîː ʃtô spâː.se] [ôd prǒ.pas.ti dǒ.sad nâːs] [t͡ʃûːj i ôdsâd nâ.ʃe ɡlâː.se] [i ôd sâd nâm bu.di spâːs] [môt͡ɕ.nom rǔː.koːm vo.di bra.ni] [bu.dut͡ɕ.nos.ti sr̩p.ske brôːd] 𝄆 [bôː.ʒe spâː.si bôː.ʒe xra.ni] [sr̩p.ske zem.ʎe sr̂p.ski rôːd] 𝄇 2 [slo.ʒi sr̩p.sku bra.t͡ɕu dra.gu] [na sʋâːk di.t͡ʃan slâː.ʋan râːd] [slô.ɡa bǐː.t͡ɕe pô.raːz ʋraː.gu] [a naj.ja.t͡ʃi sřp.stʋu ɡrâːd] [nek na sr̩p.skoj blis.ta ɡraː.ni] [brat.skeː slo.ge zlǎː.tan plôːd] 𝄆 [bôː.ʒe spâː.si bôː.ʒe xra.ni] [sr̩p.ske zem.ʎe sr̂p.ski rôːd] 𝄇 3 [nek na sr̩p.sko ʋed.r̩o t͡ʃě.lo] [tʋôg ne pad.ne gne.ʋa ɡrôːm] [bla.ɡo.slo.ʋi sr̩.bu sě.lo] [pô.ʎe ɲi.ʋu ɡrâːd i dôːm] [kâd na.stuː.pe bor.be daː.ni] [k‿po.be.di mu ʋo.di xôːd] 𝄆 [bôː.ʒe spâː.si bôː.ʒe xra.ni] [sr̩p.ske zem.ʎe sr̂p.ski rôːd] 𝄇 4 [iz mraːt͡ʃ.no.ga sîː.nu gro.ba] [sr̩p.ske sla.ʋe nô.ʋi sjâːj] [nǎ.sta.lo je no.ʋo dôː.ba] [no.ʋu sre.t͡ɕu bôː.ʒe daj] [o.tad͡ʒ.bi.nu sr̩p.sku bra.ni] [pet.ʋe.koʋ.ne bor.be plôːd] 𝄆 [bôː.ʒe spâː.si bôː.ʒe xra.ni] [mo.li ti se sr̂p.ski rôːd] 𝄇 | I God of Justice; Thou who saved us when in deepest bondage cast, Hear Thy Serbian children's voices, Be our help as in the past. With Thy mighty hand sustain us, Still our rugged pathway trace; 𝄆 God, our hope; protect and cherish, Serbian lands and Serbian race! 𝄇 II Bind in closest links our kindred Teach the love that will not fail, May the loathed fiend of discord Never in our ranks prevail. Let the golden fruits of union Our young tree of freedom grace; 𝄆 God, our Master! Guide and prosper, Serbian lands and Serbian race! 𝄇 III Lord! Avert from us Thy vengeance, Thunder of Thy dreaded ire; Bless each Serbian town and hamlet, Mountain, meadow, hearth and spire! When our host goes forth to battle Death or victory to embrace- 𝄆 God of armies! Be our leader, Strengthen then the Serbian race! 𝄇 IV On our sepulcher of ages Breaks the resurrection morn, From the slough of direst slavery Serbia anew is born. Through five hundred years of durance We have knelt before Thy face, 𝄆 All our kin, O God! Deliver, Thus entreats the Serbian race! 𝄇 |