   land of the free is the national anthem of belize. the words were written by samuel alfred haynes and the music by selwyn walford young in 1963. it was officially adopted in 1981. ==lyrics== :o. land of the free by the carib sea, :our manhood we pledge to thy liberty! :no tyrants here linger, despots must flee :this tranquil haven of democracy :the blood of our sires which hallows the sod, :brought freedom from slavery, oppression's rod :by the might of truth, and the grace of god, :no longer shall we be hewers of wood. refrain: :arise! ye sons of the baymen's clan, :put on your armour, clear the land! :drive back the tyrants, let despots flee - :land of the free by the carib sea! :nature has blessed thee with wealth untold, :o'er mountains and valleys where prairies roll; :our fathers, the baymen, valiant and bold :drove back the invader; this heritage hold :from proud rio hondo to old sarstoon, :through coral isle, over blue lagoon; :keep watch with the angels, the stars and moon; :for freedom comes tomorrow's noon. :(refrain) == history and criticism == === samuel haynes === haynes participated in world war i as part of the colonial effort for great britain and encountered much abuse and ridicule along with his fellow workers. on his return to belize he became a part of workers' movements in belize and is readily identified with the 1919 ex-servicemen's riot that began on july 22. after that riot was suppressed, haynes began organizing belize's branch of the universal negro improvement association (unia) and facilitated the visit of its head marcus garvey of jamaica. garvey recruited haynes to work with him in the u.s., a move that rendered the unia in belize leaderless for much of the 1920s and that indirectly contributed to the isaiah morter controversy. haynes most likely wrote the anthem as an answer to colonialism's stifling of belizeans' identity. the lofty language and uplifting lyrics referenced belize's former status as a slave society indebted to profits from forestry, cleverly linking it to the end of belize's colonial period, a process that culminated on september 21, 1981. the song was originally titled "land of the gods", a salute to the proliferation of organized religion in belize. === exalting by the pup === with the arrival of the nationalist movement led by the people's united party, the search was on for new symbols of belizean identity. the pup had defied the colonial order by singing "god bless america" instead of the royal 
Belizean_music National_anthems National_symbols_of_Belize North_American_anthems