What is the Belgian national anthem & what are the lyrics to La Brabanconne in English? Euro 2024 song words for Belgium

BELGIUM'S national anthem is as patriotic as any other, and with just three verses, sung in three languages, there's more ways than one to belt it.

Red Devils aim to emerge on top of a four-way Group E scrap at Euro 2024 and Belgium stop at nothing to make their mark.

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What are the lyrics to the Belgian national anthem, La Brabanconne?

Verse 1
Noble Belgique, ô mère chérie,
À toi nos cœurs, à toi nos bras,
À toi notre sang, ô Patrie !
Nous le jurons tous, tu vivras !
Tu vivras toujours grande et belle
Et ton invincible unité
Aura pour devise immortelle :
Le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté!

Verse 2
O dierbaar België, O heilig land der Vaad’ren,
Onze ziel en ons hart zijn u gewijd.
Aanvaard ons kracht en het bloed van onze ad’ren,
Wees ons doel in arbeid en in strijd.
Bloei, o land, in eendracht niet te breken;
Wees immer uzelf en ongeknecht,
Het woord getrouw, dat g’ onbevreesd moogt spreken,
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht!

Verse 3
O liebes Land, o Belgiens Erde,
Dir unser Herz, Dir unsere Hand,
Dir unser Blut, o Heimaterde,
wir schwören’s Dir, o Vaterland!
So blühe froh in voller Schöne,
zu der die Freiheit Dich erzog,
und fortan singen Deine Söhne:
Gesetz und König und die Freiheit hoch!

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What are the lyrics to La Brabanconne in English?

Verse 1
Noble Belgium; O, mother dear;
To you we stretch our hearts and arms,
With blood to spill for you, O fatherland!
We swear with one cry, you shall live!
You shall live, so great and beautiful,
And your invincible unity
Shall have for device immortal:
The King, the Law, the Liberty!

Verse 2
O dear Belgium; O, holy land of the fathers,
Our soul and our heart are devoted to you!
Accept our strength and the blood in our veins,
Be our goal, in work and struggle.
Prosper, O land, in unbreakable unity;
Always be yourself and serve no other,
Faithful to the word that you may speak boldly,
For King, for Freedom and for Law!

Verse 3
O, dear country; O, Belgium’s soil;
To you our heart, to you our hands,
To you our blood; O, native land,
We swear to you; O, fatherland!
So gladly bloom in beauty full,
Into what freedom has taught you to be,
And evermore shall sing your sons:
To Law and King and Freedom, hail!

Who is the lyricist to the Belgian national anthem?

Legend has it that the Belgian national anthem was written during the Belgian revolution by a young revolutionary called "Jenneval."

It is said that Jenneval, a Frenchman whose real name was Alexandre Dechet, wrote La Brabançonne and read the lyrics during a meeting at the Aigle d'Or café.

Who composed the Belgian national anthem?

Belgian composer François Van Campenhout decided he liked Jenneval’s lyrics, and composed an accompanying piece of music.

The music was based on the tune of a French song by poet Eugène de Pradel, called ‘L’Air des lanciers polonais.’

When was the Belgian national anthem adopted by Belgium?

Although the anthem was written in 1830, it wasn't adopted by Belgium officially for their national anthem until thirty years later.

In 1860, Belgium’s then-prime minister, Charles Rogier, edited out lyrics which condemned the Dutch Prince of Orange, and added his own fourth verse.

It was then the country then officially adopted La Brabanconne as its national anthem.

How to watch Euro 2024

Both ITV and BBC will be showing matches, with the decision on who is hosting what games already decided for the group stages — you can see a list of the confirmed TV picks of remaining games for each broadcaster below:

All the games will also be available on BBC iPlayer and ITVX respectively.

• 24-Jun Albania v Spain 8pm BBC
• 24-Jun Croatia v Italy 8pm BBC
• 25-Jun Netherland v Austria 5pm BBC
• 25-Jun France v Poland 5pm BBC
• 25-Jun England v Slovenia 8pm ITV
• 25-Jun Denmark v Serbia 8pm ITV
• 26-Jun Slovakia v Romania 5pm BBC
• 26-Jun Ukraine v Belgium 5pm BBC
• 26-Jun Georgia v Portugal 8pm ITV
• 26-Jun Czech Republic v Turkey 8pm ITV

TV for the knockout rounds of the tournament will be announced in due course.