In 1980, Canada issued a pair of postage stamps that celebrate the country’s national anthem, O Canada! I hope you are ready for a post aboot those stamps and that song, eh?
Postage stamps are political documents. So it makes great sense that one of the most common music-themed stamps are those dedicated to national anthems. These stamps are particularly popular in the Americas and you can read about the anthems of Guatemala, Uruguay, and Chile elsewhere on this blog.
The Song
The history of the song begins in 1880 when Théodore Robitaille, then Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, commissioned a song to celebrate a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day celebration in Quebec City. The composer who wrote the music was Calixia Lavallée, with French lyrics by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. There were already several popular national songs that were in use as unofficial anthems. Within French-speaking Quebec, another piece by Routhier, Chant National was popular. However, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, God Save The Queen and The Maple Leaf Forever were both in use.
After its premiere, O Canada! became more popular and had several sets of English translations that were in use until 1908, when Robert Stanley Weir wrote lyrics that became the standard English song. Unusually, the French and English lyrics are not translations, but separate sets of lyrics that have both been adopted by the Canadian parliament.
In 1939, King George VI stood through a performance of O Canada when it was performed to dedicate the National War Memorial in Ottawa. As a result, from that moment forward it became the de facto national anthem. It became official with an act of parliament beginning on July 1st, 1980.
The Postage Stamps
Canada, 1980
Scott Number CA 858
A pair of postage stamps celebrating O Canada! were released on June 6, 1980. Ironically, the stamps were available a month before the song became the offical national anthem. The design for the stamp came from Friedrich G. Peter and they were printed by Ashton-Potter Ltd. They are both vibrant stamps that use a very period pallete of colors. The first stamp features a music staff and a few notes of the beginning of the song. The second stamp features the three men who are credited with writing the music and French and English lyrics.
Lyrics
There are many different versions of the lyrics and multiple verses. I find it fascinating that the English is not a translation of the original French, but instead a completely different set of lyrics.
French
Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l’épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
English Trans.
O Canada!
Land of our ancestors
Glorious deeds circle your brow
For your arm knows how to wield the sword
Your arm knows how to carry the cross;
Your history is an epic
Of brilliant deeds
And your valour steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights,
Will protect our homes and our rights.
English
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee
Make sure to check out this moving performance sung by hockey fans in 2014 after terrorist attacks in Ottawa.
