An arrangement of the English national anthem for Trombone Quintet.

The official anthem of England, being a country within the United Kingdom, is that of the United Kingdom, namely “God Save the Queen”. All the countries of the United Kingdom, however, have unofficial local anthems of varying degrees of popularity and official-ness; England’s anthem in this regard is harder to determine.

National anthems of the countries of the United Kingdom are often determined is by what is played at sporting events, especially those where play against other British countries are concerned. In some, “God Save the Queen” is used for England, even in play against other areas of the United Kingdom where their respective local anthems are used, in a few others another patriotic song might be used (such as “Jerusalem”) or “Land of Hope and Glory”, which is used by many sporting teams representing England or local teams within England. Because it is often associated with English sporting teams, “Land of Hope and Glory” often is a popular choice for consideration of an English anthem.

Taken from Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D”, this patriotic song may be familiar to N. American audiences as being played at convocation ceremonies. The song was first performed in 1902 and, at the request of the new king of the United Kingdom, King Edward VII, words were written for the occassion of his coronation the following year.

One must keep in mind that no anthem has been decreed by law as the official national anthem of England (even “God Save the Queen” is used traditionally as the national anthem of the United Kingdom, having not been officially declared as such); and “God Save the Queen” seems to remain the most popular anthem within England. “Land of Hope and Glory” is only used, as mentioned above in some (but, importantly, not all) sporting events as well as several national anthems collections that represent a separate anthem for England.