national anthem

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national anthem (plural national anthems)

1. The official song of a nation or sovereign state, generally of a patriotic nature and played at events to celebrate or honor said state.
   • 2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “tEngland Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph‎^[1]:

     With such focus from within the footballing community this week on Remembrance Sunday, there was something appropriate about Colchester being the venue for last night’s game. Troops from the garrison town formed a guard of honour for both sets of players, who emerged for the national anthem with poppies proudly stitched into their tracksuit jackets.

2. (nonstandard) The official song of a constituent state of a country.

   The national anthem of Wales

   The national anthem of the Russian SFSR