National Anthem of Mexico
The anthem is not written in modern Spanish. It is poetry from 1853 — bridón, osare, aras — and most people trying to learn it are memorizing words they have never been told the meaning of. Below is every official stanza with a plain-Spanish rewrite, an English translation, and a definition for each archaic word.
Do you have to sing it?
Not officially. SRE does not list singing the anthem as a requirement, and the interview is a short, friendly conversation in Spanish. What the exam does ask is questions about the anthem — who wrote the words, who wrote the music, when it was first sung, and how the chorus continues.
Applicants have reported that back when the regional SRE offices were still processing naturalizations, the Mérida office had a reputation for asking people to sing it. That was never an official requirement, and today only the CDMX office is accepting applications.
Learn it anyway. Sooner or later you will be standing in a room where everyone else is singing.
Tap any underlined word for its meaning.
Chorus
The chorus is sung five times — at the start, between each stanza, and at the end. It is the part everyone knows, and the part the exam asks about most.
Mexicanos, al grito de guerra
Mexicanos, cuando suene el llamado a la guerra
Mexicans, at the cry of war
el y el ,
preparen las armas y el caballo de batalla,
ready your steel and your warhorse,
y en sus la Tierra
y que la Tierra tiemble hasta en lo más profundo
and let the earth tremble to its very core
al rugir del cañón.
con el estruendo del cañón.
at the resounding roar of the cannon.
The last two lines are repeated each time the chorus is sung.
Stanza I
Written in 1853, five years after Mexico lost half its territory to the United States. The stanza asks for peace but takes another invasion for granted — which is why it ends by promising a soldier in every son.
¡oh Patria! tus de
Patria, que coronen tus sienes con ramas de olivo
O Homeland, may your brow be wreathed in olive
de la paz el divino,
el arcángel divino de la paz,
by the divine archangel of peace,
que en el cielo tu eterno destino
porque tu destino eterno quedó escrito en el cielo
for in heaven your eternal destiny
por el dedo de Dios se escribió.
por el dedo de Dios mismo.
was written by the finger of God.
si un enemigo
Pero si un enemigo extranjero se atreviera
But should a foreign enemy dare
profanar con su tu suelo,
a pisar y profanar tu tierra,
to profane your soil with his tread,
piensa ¡oh Patria querida! que el cielo
recuerda, Patria querida, que el cielo
know, beloved Homeland, that heaven
un soldado en cada hijo te dio.
te dio un soldado en cada uno de tus hijos.
gave you a soldier in every son.
ChorusMexicanos, al grito de guerra…
Stanza V
The most violent stanza in the anthem. Note «empapad» — a vosotros imperative, a form no longer used in Mexico, which gives away the literary Spanish of 1853.
¡Guerra, guerra sin al que intente
¡Guerra sin descanso contra quien intente
War, war without truce on any who would try
de la patria manchar los !
manchar el escudo y el honor de la patria!
to stain the Homeland's coat of arms!
¡Guerra, guerra! Los
¡Guerra! Que las banderas de la patria
War, war! Let the Homeland's banners
en las olas de sangre .
se empapen en olas de sangre.
be steeped in waves of blood.
¡Guerra, guerra! En el , en el valle
¡Guerra! En la montaña y en el valle
War, war! On the mountain, in the valley
los cañones truenen,
que truenen los cañones con su ruido espantoso,
let the horrid-sounding cannon thunder,
y los ecos sonoros resuenen
y que los ecos repitan con fuerza
and let the ringing echoes resound
con las voces de ¡Unión! ¡Libertad!
los gritos de ¡Unión! ¡Libertad!
with the cries of Union! Liberty!
ChorusMexicanos, al grito de guerra…
Stanza VI
It chooses total destruction over submission. The closing image — ruins that speak — is one of the most quoted in the anthem.
Antes, Patria, que tus hijos
Antes que tus hijos, desarmados,
Sooner, Homeland, than have your children, defenceless,
bajo el su cuello ,
doblen el cuello bajo el yugo del invasor,
bow their necks beneath the yoke,
tus con sangre se rieguen,
que tus campos se rieguen de sangre
let your fields be watered with blood,
sobre sangre se estampe su pie.
y que sus pies pisen sobre sangre.
let their feet be planted upon blood.
Y tus templos, palacios y torres
Y que tus templos, palacios y torres
And let your temples, palaces and towers
se derrumben con ,
se derrumben con un ruido espantoso,
collapse with a horrid crash,
y sus ruinas existan diciendo:
y que sus ruinas queden ahí diciendo:
and let their ruins remain, saying:
de mil héroes la Patria aquí fue.
aquí estuvo la patria de mil héroes.
here stood the Homeland of a thousand heroes.
ChorusMexicanos, al grito de guerra…
Stanza X
The final stanza hands out the prizes: for the Homeland, olive and laurel; for the children who die for her, glory and a grave. It is the stanza that closes the anthem at ceremonies.
¡Patria! ¡Patria! Tus hijos te juran
¡Patria! Tus hijos te juran
Homeland, Homeland! Your children swear to you
en tus su ,
dar su último aliento en tu altar,
to breathe their last upon your altars,
si el con su acento
si la trompeta de guerra
if the bugle, with its warlike call,
los convoca a con valor.
los llama a pelear con valentía.
summons them to fight with valour.
¡Para ti las de oliva!
¡Para ti, las coronas de olivo!
For you, the garlands of olive!
¡Un recuerdo para ellos de gloria!
¡Para ellos, un recuerdo glorioso!
For them, a memory of glory!
¡Un para ti de victoria!
¡Para ti, el laurel de la victoria!
For you, a laurel of victory!
¡Un para ellos de honor!
¡Para ellos, una tumba de honor!
For them, a tomb of honour!
ChorusMexicanos, al grito de guerra…
About the anthem
The lyrics were written by the poet Francisco González Bocanegra, who won a public contest in 1853. According to the story everyone tells, his fiancée locked him in a room until he finished his entry.
The music is by Jaime Nunó, a band director born in Spain, chosen in a second public contest.
It was performed publicly for the first time on 15 September 1854.
It only became the official national anthem almost a century later, by decree of president Manuel Ávila Camacho in 1943.
Bocanegra's original poem has ten stanzas. The official version keeps four of them — I, V, VI and X — with the chorus sung between each one.
A common trap on the exam is swapping the two men around: Bocanegra was the poet, Nunó the musician.
The music
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