Guatemalan National Anthem Stamps

This post features the Guatemalan national anthem stamps of 1953. In that year, Guatemala issued a set of four postage honoring its national song. The stamp features the composer Rafaél Álvarez Ovalle who wrote the music together with the poet José Joaquin Palma who authored the lyrics of this national hymn.

Of course, national anthems are a common theme on postage stamps. Richard Scott More, Curator of the British Library’s Philatelic Collection wrote that “National anthems are a popular way for nations to eulogise their history, traditions and struggles musically since the nineteenth century . . .” Read his further comments about the topics on this blog post. For example, you can discover other national anthem postage stamps on my posts about the anthems of Uruguay and Chile.

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America. Specifically, it is just south of Mexico, and straddles the continent from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific in the west. While Mexico was largely controlled by the Aztec Empire, the Mayan civilization was centered in current day Guatemala and stretched into the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico and south into portions of present day Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. Spanish conquistadors brought the region mostly under colonial rule in the 1520s. During the colonial period, Guatemala was a Spanish audiencia and a part of New Spain.

On September 15, 1821, Guatemala (and all of Central America) declared Independence from Spain. The country since that point has been plagued by a series of civil wars and disputes with colonial powers. It was governed for much of its history by autocratic dictators. The borders have changed many times and in fact there remains a dispute with the Belize (Guatemala claims all of the territy of Belize). The current constitution was written in 1985 and establishes a representative democracy.

The National Anthem History

The government of Guatemala launched a competition to select its national anthem in 1887. However, a winner wasn’t announced until 1896. The song that was chosen is now affectionately known as Guatemala Feliz! however it actually has no official title and is simply known as the National Hymn (or Himno Nacional as is printed on the stamps).

The composer of the music was Rafaél Álvarez Ovalle (1858-1946) and he was publicly lauded for composing the piece, which was premiered in 1897. Ovalle was an accomplished musician who played the flute, guitar, piano, violin and also composed music. He was born in a small town in Guatemala and unlike other Latin American musicians who went to Europe to perfect their skills, Ovalle did all of his studies in Guatemala. Ovalle became one of the most respected musicians and music teachers in the country.

Rather unusually, at the time, the author of the lyrics was anonymous. It was only in 1911, that it became known that the Cuban poet, José Joaquin Palma (1844-1911), who was then on his deathbed had written the lyrics. Palma was both a poet, and a political revolutionary, and he left Cuba and eventually made his home in Guatemala beginning in 1873. In 1934, the lyrics were slightly rewritten, as it was felt that the original were a little too graphic (bloody) and the writer José María Bonilla was asked to make the adjustments. To learn more about the anthem check out this website.

The Postage Stamps

The four stamps are pretty simple in their design. All of them have the same layout, with portraits of Ovalle and Palma in circles in the center of the stamp, with a musical lyre separating the two men. The four different denominations are each a monochromatic color. Across the top of each stamp is the text honoring these authors of the national anthem.

The National Anthem

Unusually, the national anthem of Guatemala is sung in its entirety with all of the verses and choruses. In many other countries, only some verses are made official or are traditional. Here are the lyrics: