An Analysis of the Ideological Load of National Anthems of the World

This study was an attempt to investigate the reflection of ideological beliefs in the national anthems (NAs) of three groups of countries, i.e. capitalist, socialist, and muslim. Additionally, the study was aimed at revealing a taxonomy of the ideological themes and their associated concepts marked in NAs. To this end, English translation of transcriptions of more than 53 national anthems (totaling 10,000 words) was examined. The analysis showed both slight and marked differences among the NAs of the three groups of countries. The findings indicated both slight and marked differences in the reflection of each ideological concept. Capitalist countries NAs had more frequent representation of ideological themes and concepts, compared to those of the socialist and muslim countries. Regardless of the ideological positions of the three groups of countries, nationalism was found to be the most frequently represented theme. Freedom and unity were represented repeatedly in NAs of socialist countries, whereas religious concepts were largely ignored.