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Original poster

Why doesn't England have a National Anthem?

364 replies

itwontletmechoose · 14/07/2024 19:59

It's frustrating to hear them sing the 'God Save the King' British national anthem. Why doesn't England have its own national anthem instead of singing one which covers all of the union (in theory)?

OP posts:
AzureAnt · 14/07/2024 21:38

Euridicefortuna · 14/07/2024 21:36

I'm a firm believer in English votes for English laws,Welsh votes for Welsh laws etc.Having our own parliament would help facilitate this,I don't believe the English should have a voice in Welsh,Scottish and N.Irish issues either vice versa.

As you can guess;I would love for England to have its own national anthem. Wales should be properly represented on the Union flag,st George flag (George and the dragon)doesn't do it justice......

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If the Scots the Welsh and the Northern Irish wish to leave the Union they should go ahead. I doubt the English would be crying too much about it

ClevererThanMost · 14/07/2024 21:37

Euridicefortuna · 14/07/2024 21:36

I'm a firm believer in English votes for English laws,Welsh votes for Welsh laws etc.Having our own parliament would help facilitate this,I don't believe the English should have a voice in Welsh,Scottish and N.Irish issues either vice versa.

As you can guess;I would love for England to have its own national anthem. Wales should be properly represented on the Union flag,st George flag (George and the dragon)doesn't do it justice......

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You already have it. There aren’t enough Scots or Welsh MPs to prevent the English doing anything.

outdooryone · 14/07/2024 21:37

England doesn't have it's own parliament, so an anthem is the least of the issues.
Instead the UK Parliament behaves like an English parliament, inflicting all sorts that isn't fully devolved on other nations of the Union against thier will / best benefit.
Time England had its own Parliament and the Lords was replaced with a council of the Union with equal standing, as a union should be.

Euridicefortuna · 14/07/2024 21:36

ClevererThanMost · 14/07/2024 21:14

England has 80+% of the MPs and absolutely legislates on UK/England and Wales issues. What purpose would having another layer of government be to you? We voted to have our own, via devolution because having only 30 representatives in the HoC meant Wales’ needs weren’t met. England feathers its nest in the current system just fine.

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I'm a firm believer in English votes for English laws,Welsh votes for Welsh laws etc.Having our own parliament would help facilitate this,I don't believe the English should have a voice in Welsh,Scottish and N.Irish issues either vice versa.

As you can guess;I would love for England to have its own national anthem. Wales should be properly represented on the Union flag,st George flag (George and the dragon)doesn't do it justice......

Waffle78 · 14/07/2024 21:33

I've always thought it was land of hope and glory. Of course king Charles is hesd of state so that takes priority.

scalt · 14/07/2024 21:33

Here is how Flanders and Swann solved this very problem.

Not in that video, but even funnier is the spoken introduction:
"If we've done anything good, it's another triumph for Great Britain; and if we haven't, it's England loses again. Have you noticed that?"

"We didn't go round saying how marvellous we English were, everybody knew that."

"We don't bother to put our names on our stamps, as there are only two kinds of stamps: English stamps, and foreign stamps."

Flanders & Swann

Song of Patriotic Prejudice(The English are Best)AT THE DROP OF ANOTHER HATon Broadway 1967By Permission of THE FLANDERS & SWANN ESTATES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vh-wEXvdW8

willWillSmithsmith · 14/07/2024 21:33

VesperLind · 14/07/2024 20:03

Wales and Scotland have their own anthems. England’s should be either Jerusalem or Land of Hope and Glory (I think LoH&G should actually be the UK anthem).

I’m sure I read somewhere years ago that even Princess Ann thinks it should be LoH&G. I don’t mind the RF per se but that anthem
makes me cringe.

CranfordScones · 14/07/2024 21:32

I'd vote for Hubert Parry's setting of Jerusalem.

It came out top in a poll by Team England (in relation to the Commonwealth Games).

But the "It doesn't represent me" brigade would miss the point so comprehensively that it will never happen.

Cinocino · 14/07/2024 21:32

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“I just think its sad. We're a Union”

Well that didn’t last long.

recoveringworkaholic · 14/07/2024 21:31

The English one is land of hope and glory

ladygindiva · 14/07/2024 21:30

Livelovebehappy · 14/07/2024 20:34

I think we should. It’s not fair for example to sing something tonight which encompasses England, Scotland, Wales, NI, when in fact it’s just the English team that got us there. It somehow feels the others have jumped on our coat-tails….

It's not " the others" who have chosen for England to use the British anthem.... It's the English.

Left · 14/07/2024 21:28

It’s a bit dreary. The Sex Pistols version is a bit more rousing.

Then Vindaloo for England.

KimberleyClark · 14/07/2024 21:26

ClevererThanMost · 14/07/2024 20:09

Or The Archers theme tune.

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Or English Country Garden.

BMW6 · 14/07/2024 21:25

Regalia · 14/07/2024 21:01

Oh, can I ask a question (as a non-Brit) to all those of you who sing ‘God Save the King’? How long did it take you to remember to sing ‘King’ rather than ‘Queen’, and are some people still forgetting? Every time I’ve seen the England team singing the anthem, I’ve mentally gone ‘Oh, forgot QE2 is no more ’…

Still sounds wrong to me and when the news says anything about the Queen I invariably think "but she's dead" .........

Munter · 14/07/2024 21:25

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Cinocino · 14/07/2024 21:23

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Well that’s ironic considering you keep only referring to Britain and not The UK.

Munter · 14/07/2024 21:21

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PumpkinsAndCoconuts · 14/07/2024 21:20

GrumpyPanda · 14/07/2024 20:04

Also the old Prussian Imperial Anthem ("Hail Thee in the Victor's Crown").

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Same melody as the old de facto Swiss anthem. Which was in use before Switzerland officially adopted a national anthem (the Swiss psalm, which is still in use today).

5128gap · 14/07/2024 21:20

There'll always be an England maybe?

Cinocino · 14/07/2024 21:19

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Why is it “sad” that Scotland, Wales and NI have devolved powers in order to deal with their own concerns and political priorities, which are not the same as those in England?

LordEmsworth · 14/07/2024 21:19

ROFL at the idea of Jerusalem being a national anthem. "This country's so shit, let's destroy it and start again", hmm yeah that's rousing, but possibly not in a good way 😂

Mouldiwarp1 · 14/07/2024 21:18

LuluBlakey1 · 14/07/2024 20:49

I like 'I Vow To Thee My Country'. It would be a good national anthem for England.

This gets my vote too.

ClevererThanMost · 14/07/2024 21:18

Well, maybe the English should have thought about that when they were trying to obliterate us, our language and our traditions. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Munter · 14/07/2024 21:17

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Thatcat · 14/07/2024 21:16

Is it not:
VINDALOOOOOO
NAH NAH
WE’re gonna score one more than you ENGERLUUUUND
ME AND ME MUM AND ME DAD AND ME GRAN […]

etc?

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