THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
Forged from the love of liberty,
In the fires of hope and prayer,
With boundless faith in our Destiny,
We solemnly declare,
Side by side we stand,
Islands of the blue Caribbean Sea,
This our Native Land,
We pledge our lives to Thee,
Here every creed and race finds an equal place,
And may God bless our Nation,
Here every creed and race finds an equal place,
And may God bless our Nation.
Patrick S. Castagne composed the words and music of the National Anthem in 1962. The words of the National Anthem reflect the nature and the strength of the people of Trinidad and Tobago our courage as one nation working towards living in unity despite our diversity. The National Anthem should be accorded the respect due to it when played, and on no occasion should it be treated with scant courtesy. When the Anthem is being played all persons should pay respect to it by standing to attention. Men in civilian dress should remove their headdress. Commissioned Officers of the Armed Forces, Gazetted Officers of the Police Service, Cadet Force Officers and Officers of the Fire Services, Prisons Service, St John Ambulance Brigade, Red Cross Society, Boy Scouts Association and Girl Guides Association, in uniform are to salute. All other ranks and all other persons are to stand to attention.
One of his compositions, called “A Song for the Islands“, was submitted to the West Indies Federation as a possible anthem. He was not successful in his bid, but when the federation collapsed, he changed the line “Hands joined across the sea“ to the onewe now know “Islands of the blue Caribbean Sea“ and resubmmitted the song to Trinidad and Tobago. It was accepted as and has remained our national anthem.
Prepared by: The Ministry of Public Administration And Information |