GUATEMALA

¡Guatemala feliz! que tus aras
No profane jamás el verdugo;
Ni haya esclavos que laman el yugo
Ni tiranos que escupan tu faz.
Si mañana tu suelo sagrado
Lo amenaza invasión extranjera,
Libre al viento tu hermosa bandera
A vencer o a morir llamará.

 

 

CHORUS

Libre al viento tu hermosa bandera
A vencer o a morir llamará;
Que tu pueblo con ánima fiera
Antes meurto q'esclavo será.

 

TRANSLATION

Fortunate Guatemala! May your altars

Never be profaned by cruel men.

May there never be slaves who submit to their yoke,

Or tyrants who deride you.

If tomorrow your sacred soil

Should be threatened by foreign invasion,

Your fair flag, flying freely in the wind,

Will call to you: Conquer or die.

 

 

CHORUS

Your fair flag, flying freely in the wind,

Will call to you: Conquer or die;

For your people, with heart and soul,

Would prefer death to slavery.

 

 

Adopted in 1896 and modified in 1934

There are four verses.

 

Words by JOSÉ JOAQUÍN PALMA (1844-1911)