Mer Hayrenik

La letra de «Nuestra Patria» se derivó de « La canción de una chica italiana » ( en armenio: Իտալացի աղջկա երգը Italatsi aghjka yergė ), un poema escrito por Mikael Nalbandian en 1859 y publicado en 1861. ^{[ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ]} A principios del siglo XX, ^{[ 1 ]} la música fue compuesta por Parsegh Ganatchian . ^{[ 3 ]} Posteriormente, tanto la letra (con cambios) como la música fueron adoptadas como himno nacional de la Primera República de Armenia , que existió brevemente de 1918 a 1920. ^{[ 3 ] [ 5 ]}

In November 1920, the Red Army invaded Armenia, in spite of the Treaty of Sèvres – which granted the country international recognition as a sovereign state – having been signed only three months earlier.^[6] In 1922, it was absorbed into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR), together with Azerbaijan and Georgia, and the TSFSR subsequently became part of the Soviet Union at the end of that same year.^[7] As a symbol of Armenian nationalism, the song "Our Fatherland" was outlawed by the Bolshevik authorities.^[2][5] In its place, the Anthem of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic was utilized from 1944 onwards.^[8][9] Because of this, "Our Fatherland" took on a new status as a protest song against Soviet rule during this time.^[5]

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the song "Our Fatherland" was reinstated as Armenia's national anthem on 1 July 1991^[3] by the constituent republic's Supreme Soviet.^[10] The lyrics are not identical to the 1918 version, however, because several words have been modified.^[1][11] As an intrinsic element of civic education in Armenia, the anthem is one of several national symbols which are featured in classrooms of the country's schools. By dignifying the song in this manner, teachers reckon that this "encourage[s] students to sing the national anthem every day".^[12]

A debate of the national anthem was a question in the Armenian Parliament in 2006 and in 2019. The new government had called for the restoration of the Soviet era anthem with newer lyrics in its place.^[13]

The Italian violist Marco Misciagna composed the "Introduction and Variations on Mer Hayrenik” for viola solo, and in 2018, he played it during a concert at the Komitas Chamber Music House.^[14]

En 2025, se hicieron cambios a la ley sobre el himno: se cambió el orden de las estrofas del himno: la segunda estrofa se convirtió en la tercera, la tercera en la cuarta y la cuarta en la segunda. ^{[ 15 ]}

El himno nacional se basa en la primera, tercera, cuarta y sexta estrofas del poema de Nalbandian «La canción de una chica italiana». ^{[ 26 ] [ 27 ]} El texto original utiliza la ortografía clásica, que precedió a la reforma ortográfica armenia .