National Anthem of Panama

The National Anthem of Panama was adopted as a national symbol by Law No. 34 on December 15, 1949, along with the flag and the national coat of arms. Despite being a national symbol, it was not officially celebrated until Law No. 71 on November 11, 1955 established November 1 as the day of the National Anthem.

It is said that the first song that was played as the National Anthem of Panama was practically an improvisation. It all happened in 1903, during a visit by William I. Buchanan, first ambassador and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to Panama.

As part of the formal ceremony of the presentation of his credentials to the Interim Board of Governors, the anthems of each country were to be played, and that is how the Isthmian Anthem was chosen.

The Isthmian Anthem was a very popular song, sung in the schools, yet the nation needed its own anthem. Then Santos Jorge requested that Jeronimo de la Ossa compose an anthem, which he did. However, it is not the same song that is sung today, and historians have not defined who made these changes.

In 1906 the National Assembly adopted the anthem in accordance with Act 39, but only provisionally, since a competition was planned to select a new composition. But the Panamanian people decided upon the anthem with which they were familiar. Later, the Constitution of 1941 included an article that definitively adopted the now National Anthem.