Tiến Quân Ca

Tiến Quân Ca

English: Marching Song
Coat of arms
National anthem of Vietnam North Vietnam
Lyrics	Văn Cao, 1944
Music	Văn Cao, 1944
Adopted	1945 (North Vietnam) 1976 (Vietnam)
Relinquished	1976 (North Vietnam)
Audio sample
Tiến Quân Ca (instrumental) file help

Tiến Quân Ca (Vietnamese: [tǐən kʷə̄n kāː], Marching Song), also known as the "Army March" and the "Song of Advancing Soldiers", is the national anthem of Vietnam, both written and composed by Văn Cao in 1944. The "Marching Song" was adopted as the national anthem of North Vietnam in 1945, and was adopted as the national anthem of the new Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976, following the reunification of both North Vietnam and South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War.

The anthem's lyrics and title were based on Van Cao's previous works, "Thang Long". Part of the lyrics were also different during the 1940's, as the first sentence "Đoàn quân Việt Nam đi" was originally "Đoàn quân Việt Minh đi." The sixth part of the lyrics was also originally "Thề phanh thây uống máu quân thù", expressing the brutality of French colonial and pre-famine actions. After many suggestions, Van Cao changed it to "Đường vinh quang xây xác quân thù". The last sentence "Tiến lên! Cùng tiến lên! Chí trai là nơi đây ước nguyền!" it was changed to "(...)Núi sông Việt Nam ta vững bền", but when it was published it was changed to "(...)Nước non Việt Nam ta vững bền!", which Van Cao commented, "With a song that requires solemn, 'nước non' seemed too weak while being sung with 'núi sông' would be more reasonable."

After completion of work, Van Cao met and let Vu Quy try the song. Vu Quy was very happy at his work, and "Tiến Quân Ca" was published in papers on November 1944 with lithographs by Van Cao.

On August 17, 1945, the song was sung for the first time at a rally of civil servants in Hanoi by a Ph.D under the flag of the Viet Minh, and "robbed the loudspeakers". Van Cao quoted that "That quiet man was an attraction to thousands of people listening that day".