National Anthem of Malta Postage Stamp 1969

In 1969, the country of Malta commemorated the centennial of the birth of the composer of the National Anthem. Stamps are political documents. As such, they often feature nationalistic and patriotic figures and symbols. A common type of musical stamps are those that feature anthems of countries.

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. You can read about national anthem stamps from El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada, and Liberia, among others on this blog.

Malta

The island of Malta is in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Italy and east of Tunisia. It is one of the smallest independent countries in the world. Malta has been inhabited since antiquity. Due to its strategic location, though, it was mostly controlled by a succession of world powers until the twentieth century. In the ancient world, the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans all occuppied Malta. Later, both France and Britain would also claim the island. The country became independent from Britain in 1964. Today, it is a member of the European Union.

The National Anthem

A drive for independence from the British Empire began in Malta in the middle of the nineteenth century. The musicians Robert Samut wrote a short melody in 1922. A year later, the Director of Primary Schools in Malta took the melody in order to create a national song for school children to sing. The lyrics are by the priest and poet Dun Karm. His poems have both religious and patriotic themes. The words he wrote to go with the Samut melody are a prayer for the country. The anthem, Innui Malta, was first sung in 1923 and became the national anthem in 1964.

The Postage Stamp

The 1969 stamp in honor of the birth of composer Robert Samut features his portrait. The vertical stamp was printed in photogravure. It has a purple background, with the Maltese coat of arms to the right, and a few measures of musical notation in the middle. The writing is in white and gold.

The lyrics below include the original in Maltese by Dun Karm. The English translation is a singable version by May Butcher.