| English: Guardians of the Homeland | |
|---|---|
| حُمَاةَ الدَّيَّارِ | |
.svg) | |
National anthem ofSyria | |
| Lyrics | Khalil Mardam Bey, 1936 |
| Music | Mohammed Flayfel, 1936 |
| Adopted | 1938 |
| Readopted | 1961 |
| Relinquished | 1958,2024 (briefly,de facto) |
| Preceded by | Walla Zaman Ya Selahy andSuriyah Ya, Dat al-Majdi |
| Audio sample | |
U.S. Navy Band instrumental version (one verse) | |
"Ḥumāt ad-Diyār" (Arabic:حُمَاةَ الدَّيَّارِ,lit. 'Guardians of the Homeland') was written as thenational anthem ofSyria,[a] with lyrics written byKhalil Mardam Bey and the music byMohammed Salim Flayfel, who also composed thenational anthem ofIraq as well as other Arab folk songs.[1][2]
It was adopted in 1938 after a competition held byHashim al-Atassi's government to choose a state anthem for thenew republic two years after theFranco-Syrian Treaty of Independence was signed which gave Syria limited autonomy and future independence. The anthem was initially set to lose toFī Sabīli al-Majd in the competition, but it later won the competition after it gained rapid popularity amongst the Syrian population which put pressure on the competition's committee to reconsider its decisions, and eventually the anthem won and was adopted by the government as Syria's national anthem.[3][4][5]
It temporarily fell out of use when Syria joined the United Arab Republic with Egypt. On 22 February 1958, it was decided that the national anthem of the UAR would be a combination of the then Egyptian national anthem "Salam Affandina" and "Ḥumāt ad-Diyār". On 20 May 1960, it was replaced byWalla Zaman Ya Selahy, composed by Kamal Al Taweel. When Syria seceded from the union in 1961, it was fully restored and has since been used as Syria's official national anthem. The use of the anthem remains the only symbol used between the Socialist Arab Renaissance Party government and the Syrian opposition after the start of the civil war in 2011; In addition, another version of the anthem was played, but with partially altered lyrics to directly call for the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, which effectively occurred on 8 December 2024.
On 18 January 2025, theSyrian Football Association announced toFIFA that it would make a series of changes when appearing in football matches. Among these changes, this included a new anthem, "Fī Sabīli al-Majd" ('In Pursuit of Glory') by the poetOmar Abu Risha, serving as a temporary national anthem until a permanent resolution regarding the official anthem could be determined.[6]
On 19 October 2025, PresidentAhmed al-Sharaa met with the Minister of CultureMohammed Yassin Saleh alongside a group of "several writers and poets", during which, "arrangements related to the national anthem of the Syrian Arab Republic were addressed."[7]
| Arabic script[8] | Romanization (EALL) | English translation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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