Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty
{{short description|National anthem of Uganda}}
{{Infobox anthem
| title = Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty
| image = Ugandan Anthem Music Sheet.InstrumentalSimple.svg
| image_size =
| prefix = National
| country = Uganda
| author = George Wilberforce Kakoma
| lyrics_date = 1962
| composer = George Wilberforce Kakoma
| music_date = 1962
| adopted = {{Start date and age|1962|10}}
| predecessor = "God Save the Queen"
| sound = Ugandan national anthem, performed by the U.S. Navy Band.wav
| sound_title = U.S. Navy Band instrumental version (one verse)
}}
"Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty" is the national anthem of Uganda. George Wilberforce Kakoma composed the music and authored the lyrics. It was adopted as the national anthem in 1962, when the country gained independence from the United Kingdom. It is musically one of the shortest national anthems in the world. Consequently, multiple verses are sung when it is performed in public.
History
From 1894 until the height of decolonisation during the 1960s, Uganda was a protectorate of the United Kingdom within its colonial empire.{{cite encyclopedia|first1=Kenneth|last1=Ingham|first2=Maryinez|last2=Lyons|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|title=Uganda – History|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Uganda/Bunyoro-and-Buganda#ref37624|date=25 February 2020|access-date=14 July 2020|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.}}{{cite news|title=Uganda country profile|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14107906|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=10 May 2018|access-date=14 July 2020}} In the run up to independence, a subcommittee was formed to determine an anthem for the forthcoming state.{{cite news|title=Kakoma composed the anthem in a day|url=https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1300764/kakoma-composed-anthem-day|first=Charles|last=Musisi|date=9 October 2003|access-date=14 July 2020|newspaper=New Vision|location=Kampala|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715204310/https://www.newvision.co.ug/news/1300764/kakoma-composed-anthem-day|archive-date=15 July 2020}} It proceeded to hold a nationwide contest,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jfrWCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA929|title=The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems|volume=1|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=23 December 2009|last=Minahan|first=James B.|page=929|isbn=9780313344978}} with the criteria they stipulated for the anthem being that it should be "short, original, solemn, praising and looking forward to the future".
In the end, the lyrics and tune composed by George Wilberforce Kakoma were selected in July 1962. He wrote the anthem in one day, having listened on Radio Uganda the night before about how none of the entries received so far had been deemed suitable by the subcommittee. His entry was one of four that was shortlisted.{{cite news|title=Uganda: Copyright In The National Anthem|url=https://www.mondaq.com/copyright/834790/copyright-in-the-national-anthem|first1=Phillip|last1=Karugaba|first2=Tracy|last2=Kakongi|date=15 August 2019|access-date=15 July 2020|work=ENSafrica|publisher=Mondaq|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715233002/https://www.mondaq.com/copyright/834790/copyright-in-the-national-anthem|archive-date=15 July 2020}} The song was officially adopted in 1962, the year the country gained independence.{{cite web|title=Uganda|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/uganda/|date=29 June 2020|access-date=14 July 2020|work=The World Factbook|publisher=CIA}} The first public occasion where the anthem was played was at the celebrations marking independence on 9 October 1962.
Kakoma subsequently sued the government in 2008, claiming that he was never adequately remunerated and thus had rights to over four decades of royalty payments.{{cite news|title=Composer demands royalties from Uganda national anthem|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/oct/03/uganda.national.anthem.composer|first=Sean|last=Michaels|date=3 October 2008|access-date=15 July 2020|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London}} He alleged that the government gave him a mere USh.2,000/=, equivalent to less than £1 in 2008, as a "token of thanks". Kakoma died before the country's Court of Appeal dismissed the case in 2019, finding that the anthem's copyright vested in the government and not the author.
Lyrics
=In national languages=
| class="wikitable"
!English lyrics{{cite web|title=The National Anthem of Uganda|url=http://www.uganda-embassy.jp/anthem.html|access-date=15 July 2020|work=Embassy of the Republic of Uganda in Japan|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uganda|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715093217/http://www.uganda-embassy.jp/anthem.html|archive-date=15 July 2020}} !Luganda lyrics{{Cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/7590095|title=Oluyimba olwe Ggwanga Yuganda – The Ugandan National Anthem in Luganda|author=Wambi Gulere, Cornelius|page=4|lang=lg}} !Swahili lyrics |
| style="vertical-align:top; white-space:nowrap;"
| Oh, Uganda! May God uphold thee, We lay our future in thy hand; United, free for liberty together we'll always stand. II Oh, Uganda! The land of freedom, Our love and labour we give; And with neighbours all at our country's call In peace and friendship we'll live. III Oh, Uganda! The land that feeds us, By sun and fertile soil grown; For our own dear land, we shall always stand, The Pearl of Africa's Crown. | O Yuganda! Katonda akuwanirire, Tussa eby'omumaso byaffe mu mikono gyo, Mu bwegassi n'obuteefu, ku lw'obumu, Tujjanga bulijjo kuyimirirawo! II O Yuganda! Ensi y'eddembe, Okwagala n'okulusana tubikuwa, Ne baliraanwa baffe boona, lw'omulanga gwensi yaffe, Mu mirembe n'omukwano tunaberawo! III O Yuganda! Ensi etuliisa, Lw'omusana n'obugimu bw'ettaka, Lw'obugazi bw'ensi yaffe, tujja kuyimirira bulijjo, Ekimasa ky'amakula ga Afirika!}} | Loo, Uganda! Mungu akusimamie, Tunaweka mustakabali wetu mikononi mwako; Umoja, bure kwa uhuru pamoja tutasimama daima. II Loo, Uganda! Ardhi ya uhuru, Tunatoa upendo wetu na kazi yetu; Na pamoja na majirani wote katika wito wa nchi yetu Kwa amani na urafiki tutaishi. III Loo, Uganda! Ardhi ambayo hutulisha, Kwa jua na mchanga wenye rutuba uliopandwa; Kwa ardhi yetu mpendwa, tutasimama daima, Lulu ya Taji ya Afrika.}} |
=In local languages=
{{Wikisourcelang}}
Along with the Luganda and Swahili translations, the national anthem has also been translated into several other local languages.{{Cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/1303526|title=Ugandan National Anthem Translated into 25 Languages|date=8 October 1998 |last1=Gulere |first1=Cornelius W. }}
Composition
At only eight bars long,{{#tag:ref|Some sources incorrectly state that the anthem is nine bars long.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bk-xgsnuFRQC&pg=PA28|title=Usefully Useless: Everything you'd Never Learn at School (But May Like to Know)|publisher=Random House|date=30 April 2012|last=Hanks|first=Mark|page=28|isbn=9781407074238}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXy7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT19|title=The Big World of Fun Facts|publisher=Lonely Planet|date=1 November 2019|page=18|isbn=9781788686570}} This is because the pickup bar at the beginning of the song is only a partial measure and thus not counted as a complete bar.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fCZgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA47|title=Berklee Contemporary Music Notation|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|date=1 May 2017|last=Feist|first=Jonathan|page=47|isbn=9781540013002}}|group=upper-alpha}} "Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty" is musically one of the shortest national anthems in the world,{{cite news|title=An Olympian challenge: To record all 205 national anthems|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/an-olympian-challenge-to-record-all-205-national-anthems-2360910.html|first=Adam|last=Sherwin|date=26 September 2011|access-date=15 July 2020|newspaper=The Independent|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715092102/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/an-olympian-challenge-to-record-all-205-national-anthems-2360910.html|archive-date=15 July 2020}}{{cite news|title=London 2012 podium planners fight the fear of the upside-down flag|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/jul/18/london-2012-medal-ceremony-flag-fear|first=Peter|last=Walker|date=18 July 2012|access-date=15 July 2020|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London}} together with Japan's anthem.{{cite news|title=Ten things about national anthems|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2012-09-21-00-ten-things-about-national-anthems/|date=21 September 2012|access-date=15 July 2020|newspaper=Mail & Guardian|location=Johannesburg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715090044/https://mg.co.za/article/2012-09-21-00-ten-things-about-national-anthems/|archive-date=15 July 2020}} Both Michael Bristow, the editor of the book National Anthems of the World,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n0HVHeXDNS0C|title=National Anthems of the World|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2006|last=Bristow|first=M. J.|isbn=9781540013002}} and Philip Sheppard have identified Uganda's national anthem as the shortest.{{cite news|title=Is the British national anthem too short?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-14305875|first=Clare|last=Spencer|date=27 July 2011|access-date=15 July 2020|work=BBC News Magazine|publisher=BBC}}{{cite news|title=An Olympian anthem arrangement|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9701000/9701198.stm|date=1 March 2012|access-date=15 July 2020|work=BBC Radio 4 Today|publisher=BBC}} As a result, multiple verses are typically sung when it is performed at public events like international football games.{{cite news|title=Uganda team finally arrives at LLWS|url=https://tv5.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8272332/little-league-world-series-welcomes-uganda-little-league-team|first=Steve|last=Wulf|publisher=ESPN Internet Ventures|work=ESPN|date=15 August 2012|access-date=15 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715100050/https://tv5.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8272332/little-league-world-series-welcomes-uganda-little-league-team|archive-date=15 July 2020}}
Notes
{{Reflist|group=upper-alpha}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://nationalanthems.me/uganda-oh-uganda-land-of-beauty/ Uganda: Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty – Audio of the national anthem of Uganda, with information and lyrics] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20180528183213/http://nationalanthems.me/uganda-oh-uganda-land-of-beauty/ archive link])
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604144343/http://www.nationalanthems.info/ug.mid Pearl of Africa MIDI]
{{Wikisource}}
{{National Anthems of Africa}}
{{Portal bar|Music|Uganda}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh Uganda, Land Of Beauty}}
Category:National symbols of Uganda