<\/p>
Here are the lyrics and a brief history of the national anthem of Portugal, ‘A Portuguesa’, which rouses the troops before many a sporting encounter but which had its origins in patriotic protest. <\/p>
When the British gave the Portuguese an ultimatum in 1890 about its African colonies, it ignited the Portuguese nationalist movement. And, when the news came out that Portugal’s monarch and government had agreed to Britain’s terms composer Alfredo Keil furiously put pen to paper. A patriotic protest march was the result, which, once the lyrics had been added by Henrique Lopes de Mendon\u00e7a, became known as ‘A Portuguesa’.<\/p>
‘A Portuguesa’ soon became popular and was adopted as a republican hymn, which led it to being, rather predictably, banned. However the song wasn’t forgotten and when the monarchy was overthrown in 1910 ‘A Portuguesa’ became recognised as the new Republic’s national anthem<\/p>