God Save the King

God Save the King

Publication of an early version in The Gentleman's Magazine, October 1745. The title, on the contents page, is given as "God save our lord the king: A new song set for two voices".
National or royal anthem of  Antigua and Barbuda (royal)  Australia (royal)     Norfolk Island (national and royal)  The Bahamas (royal)  Belize (royal)  Canada (royal)  Grenada (royal)  Jamaica (royal)  New Zealand (national and royal)     Cook Islands (royal)     Niue (royal)     Tokelau (national and royal)  Papua New Guinea (royal)  Saint Kitts and Nevis (royal)  Saint Lucia (royal)  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (royal)  Solomon Islands (royal)  Tuvalu (royal)  United Kingdom (national and royal)     Crown dependencies     British Overseas Territories (national and royal)
Also known as	"God Save the Queen" (when the monarch is female)
Music	unknown
Adopted	September 1745
Audio sample
"God Save the King" file help

"God Save the King" has been the national anthem of the United Kingdom since 1745. It is also the royal anthem of the Commonwealth realms, played alongside their official national anthems.^[1][2] Its composer remains unknown to this date.

When the ruling monarch is a queen instead of a king, the title of the anthem then becomes "God Save the Queen".

The tune for "God Save the King" was used in many countries as a national anthem. Apart from the German state, many of which were linked to Great Britain by marriage, Liechtenstein and Switzerland used the tune. Switzerland changed to a different tune in the 1960s. Liechtenstein still uses the tune.

The tune is also used in America. The famous American song "My Country Tis of Thee" was written in 1831 with the same tune. In the 1930s when the United States was choosing an official anthem the song was a popular choice. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was chosen instead of any other.

1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140902162152/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Symbols/NationalAnthem.aspx
2. ↑ "Isle of Man – nationalanthems.info".