Armenian national anthem

English: Our Fatherland
Mer Hayrenik
National anthem of Armenia
Lyrics	Mikael Nalbandian, 1861
Music	Barsegh Kanachyan
Adopted	1918 (re-adopted in 1991)
Relinquished	1922
Audio sample
Mer Hayrenik (Instrumental) file help

"Mer Hayrenik" (Armenian: Մեր Հայրենիք, lit. 'Our Fatherland', Armenian pronunciation: [mɛɾ hɑjɾɛnikʰ]) is the national anthem of the Republic of Armenia. Barsegh Kanachyan composed the music, while the lyrics were authored by Mikael Nalbandian. First adopted in 1918 as the anthem of the short-lived First Republic of Armenia, it was subsequently banned after the country was invaded and incorporated into the Soviet Union. Following the dissolution of the USSR and the restoration of sovereignty in 1991, the song was re-adopted as the national anthem of the newly-independent state, albeit with slightly modified lyrics.

The lyrics of "Mer Hayrenik" were derived from a poem written by Mikael Nalbandian in 1861. Although its title can be translated as "The Italian Girl's Song" or "Song of an Italian girl" (Armenian: Իտալացի աղջկա երգը, translit. Italats’i aghjka yergy), it is more well-known by its incipit, "Mer Hayrenik" (Our Fatherland). In the early 20th century, the music was composed by Barsegh Kanachyan. Subsequently, both the lyrics and music were adopted as the national anthem of the First Republic of Armenia, which briefly existed from 1918 to 1920.

The Red Army invaded Armenia in November 1920, in spite of the Treaty of Sèvres – which granted the country international recognition as a sovereign state – having been signed only three months earlier. In 1922, it was absorbed into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR), together with Azerbaijan and Georgia, and the TSFSR subsequently became part of the Soviet Union at the end of that same year. As an unmistakable symbol of Armenian nationalism, "Mer Hayrenik" was outlawed by the Bolshevik authorities. In its place, the Anthem of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic was utilized from 1944 onwards. Because of this, "Mer Hayrenik" took on a new status as a protest song against Soviet rule during this time.