"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin".
The Marseillais volunteers departing, sculpted on the Arc de Triomphe
Rouget de Lisle, composer of "La Marseillaise", sings the song for the first time at the home of Dietrich, Mayor of Strasbourg (1849 painting by Isidore Pils, Musée historique de Strasbourg).
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European nations tend towards more ornate and operatic pieces, while those in the Middle East, Oceania, Africa, and the Caribbean use a more simplistic fanfare. Some countries that are devolved into multiple constituent states have their own official musical compositions for them ; their constituencies' songs are sometimes referred to as national anthems even though they are not sovereign states.
Early version of the "Wilhelmus" as preserved in a manuscript of 1617 (Brussels, Royal Library, MS 15662, fol. 37v-38r)
Holographic copy of 1847 of Il Canto degli Italiani, the Italian national anthem since 1946
Rouget de Lisle performing "La Marseillaise" for the first time
