I go blong Vanuatu…

…definitely the country that has my all-time favourite national anthem:

Yumi, Yumi, yumi I glad long talem se
Yumi, yumi, yumi ol man blong Vanuatu
God i givim ples ya long yumi,
Yumi glat tumas long hem,
Yumi strong mo yumi fri long hem,
Yumi brata evriwan!

Next on the favourites list? Japan’s economical ode to brevity.

Topping the list of anthems that are definitely not for people with sore feet? The 158-strophe-long Greek national anthem, though this is the bit that usually gets sung.

And in Afghanistan, composing a new national anthem tested poets’ skills to the maximum:

“According to the constitution, the anthem must be in Pashtu, has to contain the words “Allah hu Akbar” (God is Great), and it should include the names of all major Afghan ethnic groups….The search is on for a new text, but Afghanistan’s poets are threatening to boycott the process because of the near-impossible task of incorporating all the required political messages into the verses.”