Quotes & Sayings About National Anthems

I can't claim to know the words of all the national anthems in the world, but I don't know of any other that ends with a question and a challenge as ours does: Does that flag still wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? That is what we must all ask. — Ronald Reagan

What struck me as I began to study history was how nationalist fervor
inculcated from childhood on by pledges of allegiance, national anthems, flags waving and rhetoric blowing
permeated the educational systems of all countries, including our own. I wonder now how the foreign policies of the United States would look if we wiped out the national boundaries of the world, at least in our minds, and thought of all children everywhere as our own. Then we could never drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, or napalm on Vietnam, or wage war anywhere, because wars, especially in our time, are always wars against children, indeed our children. — Howard Zinn

Nations will seldom obtain good national anthems by offering prizes for them. The man and the occasion must meet. — John Philip Sousa

And now we have the formalities over, we'll have the National Anthems. — Brian Moore

I mean, when you think about it, it's 'bombs bursting in air,' 'rocket's red glare,' it's all kinds of - you know a lot of national anthems are that way, too - all kinds of military jargon, and the land - there's only one phrase 'the land of the free,' which is kind of nice, and 'the home of the brave?' I don't know ... Are we the only ones who are brave on the planet? I mean, all the brave people live here I mean, it's just stupid, I think. I'm embarrassed, I'm embarrassed every time I hear it. — Bill Press

Some anthems are great for sports. You've got the Russian national anthem ... 'O Canada,' how wonderful is that for hockey ... but I chose the Italian national song because at my first World Cup, I saw the Italians play four times, and they won all four times - they won the championship. — George Vecsey