Italy quietly changes its national anthem but promises it’s not political

Italy has quietly revised its national anthem, removing an emphatic “Si!” (Yes!) that previously concluded a stirring call to arms, government sources confirmed on Tuesday.

The subtle alteration, which was not publicly announced, follows official instructions issued by the Defence Staff in recent weeks, aligning with a presidential decree from May that referenced the anthem’s original composition.

Prior to this adjustment, the anthem, “Fratelli d’Italia” (Brothers of Italy), ended with the lines: “We are ready to die, We are ready to die, Italy has called! Yes!”

News of the word’s removal was first reported by the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano and subsequently corroborated by sources within the defence ministry and President Sergio Mattarella’s office.

A presidential source clarified the modification was driven by a desire for “purity,” aiming to remove an addition to the original lyrics, rather than any political motivation.

Penned by poet Goffredo Mameli in 1847, before Italy’s unification, “Brothers of Italy” is also the name of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s political party. While Mameli’s original lyrics did not feature the “Si,” the word was present in the anthem’s initial musical score, composed by Michele Novaro in the same year. Reproductions of both the original lyrics and score are publicly available on the government’s official website.