The national and state anthem of Ukraine is known by: its official edition's first line , , , ; its popular version's first line , , , ; its original title , , , ; and its official designation of the , , . It is one of the state symbols of the country.

The lyrics constitute a slightly modified version of the first verse and chorus of the patriotic song "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina", written in 1862 by Pavlo Chubynskyi, a prominent ethnographer from Kyiv. In 1863, Mykhailo Verbytskyi, a Ukrainian composer and Greek Catholic priest, composed music to accompany Chubynskyi's lyrics. The first choral public performance of the piece was in 1864 at the Ruska Besida Theatre in Lviv.

In the first half of the 20th century, during unsuccessful attempts to gain independence and create a state from the territories of the Russian Empire, Poland, and Austria-Hungary, the song was the national anthem of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the West Ukrainian People's Republic, and Carpatho-Ukraine. A competition was held for a national anthem following Ukraine's secession from the Soviet Union, with one of the songs being "" () by the Ukrainian writer and actor Mykola Voronyi. "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" was officially adopted by Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on 15 January 1992. The official lyrics were adopted on 6 March 2003 by the Law on the State anthem of Ukraine ().

History

Background 

The Ukrainian national anthem can be traced back to one of the parties of the Ukrainian ethnographer Pavlo Chubynskyi that occurred during the autumn of 1862. Scholars think that the Polish national song "" (), which dates back to 1797 and later became the national anthem of Poland and the Polish Legions, also influenced Chubynskyi's lyrics. "Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła" was popular among the nations of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were at that time fighting for their independence; the January Uprising started a few months after Chubynskyi wrote his lyrics. According to a memoirist who was present, Chubynskyi wrote the lyrics spontaneously after listening to Serbian students singing Svetozar Miletić's "" () during a gathering of Serbian and Ukrainian students in a Kyiv apartment.

Chubynskyi's words were rapidly taken up by the earliest Ukrainophiles. In 1862, the head gendarme, Prince Vasily Dolgorukov, exiled Chubynskyi to Arkhangelsk Governorate for the "dangerous influence on the minds of commoners".

The poem was first officially published in 1863 when it appeared in the fourth issue of the Lviv journal ; the journal mistakenly attributed the poem to Taras Shevchenko. It became popular in the territories that now form part of Western Ukraine, and came to the attention of a member of the Ukrainian clergy, Mykhailo Verbytskyi of the Greek Catholic Church. Inspired by Chubynskyi's lyrics, Verbytskyi, then a prominent composer in Ukraine, decided to set it to music. The lyrics were first published with Verbytskyi's sheet music in 1865. The first choral public performance of the piece was in 1864 at the Ruska Besida Theatre in Lviv.

One of the first recordings of this anthem (then spelled "") in Ukrainian was released on a gramophone record by Columbia Phonograph Company during World War I in 1916. As a folk song it was performed by a Ukrainian emigrant from Lviv and New York resident Mykhailo Zazuliak in 1915.

Early use 
"Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" was not used as a state anthem until 1917 when it was adopted by the Ukrainian People's Republic. Still, even between 1917 and 1921, the song was not legislatively adopted as an exclusive state anthem as other anthems were also used at the time.

During the Soviet period 

In 1922, the Ukrainian SSR signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR with the Russian SFSR, Transcaucasian SFSR, and Byelorussian SSR, which created the Soviet Union. Following the signing of the treaty, "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" was banned by the Soviet regime. The authorities later decided that each separate Soviet republic could have its anthem, but "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" was rejected in an attempt to help to suppress separatist sentiments held by Ukrainian Nationalists. In 1939, "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" was adopted as the official state anthem of Carpatho-Ukraine.

After Joseph Stalin ordered The Internationale to be replaced with a new Soviet anthem in 1944, the other republics of the union were expected to produce their own as well. The Ukrainian government established a commission on the anthem on 23 February 1944. Soviet authorities, after a period of struggle, successfully persuaded public intellectuals to create an anthem with lyrics fitting their political interests and music sterile of any Ukrainian national elements. On 23 February, the Ukrainian chairman Mykhailo Hrechukha started a meeting by reading a synopsis of the anthem-to-be in front of musicians and litterateurs: the Ukrainian nation's union with the Soviets were envisaged for the first stanza; the Ukrainian people, their struggles, and "freedom" under Lenin and Stalin were envisaged for the second stanza; Ukraine's economic and political "flourishing" in the union were envisaged for the third stanza. The refrain was conceived to be used after each stanza, which was considered as a paean to the union of the Soviet peoples and the reunited Ukraine following the Soviet annexation of Eastern Galicia and Volhynia.

Composers worked on the score before the decision on the lyrics; by February 1945, 11 composers were selected as finalists. Anton Lebedynets' score won with an overwhelming majority vote, and the score was adopted as the music of the new Soviet anthem in November 1949. Earlier in January 1948, the lyrics of Pavlo Tychyna and co-author Mykola Bazhan won; due to plagiarism of his text, Oleksa Novytskyi demanded to be listed as a co-author, but to no avail. On 21 November 1949, the new anthem of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted. Borys Yarovynskyi edited and reorchestrated the anthem in 1979.

Post-independence 
On 15 January 1992, "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" was adopted by Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, as the state anthem and was later instituted in the Ukrainian constitution. However, the lyrics for the anthem were not officially adopted until 6 March 2003, when the Verkhovna Rada passed a law on the state anthem of Ukraine (), proposed by then-president Leonid Kuchma. The law proposed Mykhailo Verbytskyi's music and Pavlo Chubynskyi's first stanza and refrain of his poem "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina". However, the first line of the lyrics was to be changed from "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina, i slava, i volia" to "Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy i slava, i volia". The law was passed with an overwhelming majority of 334 votes out of 450, with only 46 MPs opposing. Only the members of the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Communist Party of Ukraine refrained from voting. The national anthem that up until then had only officially consisted of Mykhailo Verbytskyi's music, would henceforth also include the modified lyrics of Pavlo Chubynskyi.

The popularity of the Ukrainian anthem has become particularly high in the wake of the Orange Revolution protests of 2004 and Euromaidan of 2013. Ukrainian composer Valentyn Sylvestrov, who participated in Ukrainian protests in Kyiv, characterized the Ukrainian anthem thus:

Since Euromaidan 

During the Euromaidan protests of 2013, the anthem became a revolutionary song for the protesters. In the early weeks of the protests, they sang the national anthem once an hour, led by singer Ruslana. In World Affairs, Nadia Diuk argues that the national anthem was used as "the clarion call of the 'revolution'" during Euromaidan, which added weight to protests that previous ones, such as the Orange Revolution, lacked. In a 2014 survey, after being asked "How has your attitude toward the following changed for the last year?", the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that the attitude towards the Ukrainian national anthem had "improved a lot" in 25.3% of Ukrainians.

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many orchestras in Europe and North America performed the anthem in solidarity with Ukraine and its people. Sporting events in Europe and North America have also performed the anthem to show solidarity as well.

Lyrics 
"Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" reminds Ukrainians about their struggle for national self-identity and independence. It was sung as the de facto national anthem at the inauguration of the first President Leonid Kravchuk on 5 December 1991, but it was not until 6 March 2003 that Chubynskyi's lyrics officially became a part of Ukraine's national anthem. The Constitution of Ukraine designated Verbytskyi's music for the national anthem on 28 June 1996:

On 6 March 2003, the Verkhovna Rada officially adopted the anthem's lyrics, opting to use only the first stanza and refrain from Chubynskyi's original poem, while slightly modifying the first stanza. Instead of stating "Ukraine has not yet died, as hasn't its glory and its freedom/will", the opening line now states "Ukraine's glory and freedom/will have not yet died".

Official edition 

Ukrainian originalЩе(!) не вмерла України і слава, і воля,
Ще нам, браття молодії, усміхнеться доля.
Згинуть наші воріженьки, як роса на сонці.
Запануєм і ми, браття, у своїй сторонці. Душу й тіло ми положим за нашу свободу,
 І покажем, що ми, браття, козацького роду.

English translationUkraine's glory and freedom/will have not yet(!) perished,
Still upon us, young brothers, fate shall smile.
Our enemies shall vanish, like dew in the sun.
We too shall rule, brothers, in our country. Soul and body shall we lay down for our freedom,
 And we will show, that we, brothers, are of Cossack descent.

IPA transcriptionʃt͡ʃɛ ne ˈwmɛrɫɑ ukrɑˈjinɪ i sɫɑʋɑ i ˈʋɔlʲɐ
ʃt͡ʃɛ nɑm ˈbrɑtʲːɐ mɔɫɔˈdʲiji usm⁽ʲ⁾ixˈnɛt͡sʲːɐ ˈdɔlʲɐ
ˈzɦɪnutʲ ˈnɑʃ⁽ʲ⁾i ʋɔr⁽ʲ⁾iˈʒɛnʲkɪ jɑk rɔˈsɑ nɑ ˈsɔn⁽ʲ⁾t͡sʲi
zɑpɑˈnujem i mɪ ˈbrɑtʲːɐ u sʋɔˈjii̯ stɔˈrɔn⁽ʲ⁾t͡sʲi ˈduʃu‿i̯ ˈtʲiɫɔ mɪ pɔˈɫɔʒɪm zɑ nɑʃu sʋɔˈbɔdu
 i pɔˈkɑʒem ʃt͡ʃɔ mɪ ˈbrɑtʲːɐ kɔzɑt͡sʲˈkɔɦɔ ˈrɔdu

Latin transcriptionŠče ne vmerla Ukrajiny i slava, i volja,
Šče nam, brattja molodiji, usmixnet’sja dolja.
Zhynut’ naši vorižen’ky, jak rosa na sonci.
Zapanujem i my, brattja, u svojij storonci. Dušu j tilo my položym za našu svobodu,
 I pokažem, ščo my, brattja, kozac’koho rodu.

Full modern lyrics 
The first verse and chorus of these lyrics constitute a more popular (commonly performed) version of the anthem. Differences from the official edition are italicized.

Ukrainian originalЩе не вмерла України ні слава, ні воля,
Ще нам, браття-українці, усміхнеться доля.
Згинуть наші вороженьки, як роса на сонці.
Запануєм і ми, браття, у своїй сторонці.Приспів:
 Душу й тіло ми положим за нашу свободу,
 І покажем, що ми, браття, козацького роду.Станем, браття, в бій кривавий від Сяну до Дону,
В ріднім краю панувати не дамо нікому.
Чорне море ще всміхнеться, дід Дніпро зрадіє,
Ще на нашій Україні доленька наспіє.
Приспів.А завзяття, праця щира свого ще докаже,
Ще ся волі в Україні піснь гучна розляже.
За Карпати відіб’ється, згомонить степами,
України слава стане поміж народами.
Приспів.

English translationUkraine's freedom has not yet perished, nor freedom, nor glory
Upon us, fellow Ukrainians, fate shall smile once more.
Our enemies will vanish, like dew in the sun,
And we too shall rule, brothers, in a free land of our own.Chorus:
 We'll lay down our souls and bodies to attain our freedom,
 And we'll show, that we, brothers, are of Cossack descent.Brothers, stand together in a bloody fight, from the Sian to the Don
We will not allow others to rule in our native land.
The Black Sea will smile and Grandfather Dnipro will rejoice,
For in our Ukraine fortune shall flourish again.
Chorus.Our persistence and our sincere toils will be rewarded,
And freedom's song will resound throughout all of Ukraine.
Echoing off the Carpathians and rumbling across the steppes,
Ukraine's fame and glory will be known among all nations.
Chorus.

Original lyrics 

Ukrainian original (modern orthography)Ще не вмерла України, і слава, і воля!
Ще нам, браття-молодці, усміхнеться доля!
Згинуть наші вороги, як роса на сонці;
Запануєм, браття, й ми у своїй сторонці.Приспів:
 Душу, тіло ми положим за свою свободу
 І покажем, що ми браття козацького роду.
 Гей-гей, браття миле, нумо братися за діло!
 Гей-гей, пора встати, пора волю добувати!Наливайко, Залізняк і Тарас Трясило
Кличуть нас із-за могил на святеє діло.
Ізгадаймо славну смерть лицарства-козацтва,
Щоб не втратить марне нам своєго юнацтва.
Приспів.Ой Богдане, Богдане, славний наш гетьмане!
Нащо віддав Україну москалям поганим?!
Щоб вернути її честь, ляжем головами,
Назовемся України вірними синами!
Приспів.Наші браття слав’яне вже за зброю взялись;
Не діжде ніхто, щоб ми позаду зістались.
Поєднаймось разом всі, братчики-слав’яне:
Нехай гинуть вороги, хай воля настане!
Приспів.

English translationUkraine has not yet died, neither her glory nor her freedom.
Still upon us, young brothers, fate shall smile!
Our enemies shall vanish, like dew in the sun;
We too shall rule in our country.Chorus:
 Soul and body we'll lay down for our freedom,
 And we'll show, that we, brothers, are of Cossack descent.
 Hey, hey, dear brothers, onward, take to battle!
 Hey, hey, time to rise, time to gain freedom!Nalyvaiko, Zalizniak, and Taras Triasylo
Call us from the grave beyond to the holy battle.
Recall the famous death of the Chivalrous Cossacks
Not to lose vainly our youth.
Chorus.Oh Bohdan, Bohdan, our great hetman
What for did you give Ukraine to wretched Moskals?!
To return her honor, we lay our heads
We shall call ourselves Ukraine's faithful sons!
Chorus.Our Slavic brothers already took up arms
No one shall see that we should stay behind.
Unite together all, brothers Slavs:
Let enemies perish, let freedom come!
Chorus.

Adaptations 
The song "", written as a "song of resistance" during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, is inspired by the opening motif of the Ukrainian national anthem.

See also 
 Shche ne vmerla Ukraina
 Anthem of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
 Prayer for Ukraine
 Zaporizhian March
 Oi u luzi chervona kalyna
 March of Ukrainian Nationalists
 Za Ukrainu

Notes

References

Sources

External links 

 

1862 songs
1860s songs
1863 compositions
1860s compositions
Compositions in G major
Compositions in G minor
European anthems
National anthems
National symbols of Ukraine
Ukrainian music
Ukrainian patriotic songs
Ukrainian songs
Ukrainian-language songs