Lyrics by: Simon Jenko
Music by: Davorin Jenko
Adopted: 1995

Naprej, zastava slave ("Forward, Flag of Glory") is a former anthem of Slovenia, used from 1860 to 1989. It is now used as the official service song of the Slovenian Armed Forces.

The lyrics were written originally by Simon Jenko and then improved collaboratively by him and his cousin Davorin Jenko, who also wrote the music. The poem was first publicly sung with great success in front of a large audience on 22 October 1860, and was first published in Slovenski glasnik (English: The Slovene Herald) on 1 December 1860.

After the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, the first and the last stanza of the poem were included in the Yugoslav national anthem as its third part, in a medley including the Serb ethnic anthem "Bože pravde" and the Croatian song "Lijepa naša domovino".

During World War II, "Naprej, zastava slave" was the introductory melody of the Kričač radio station, emitted by the Slovene Liberation Front, and was a part of the morning and the evening salutation to the flag by the Slovene Partisans. With the establishment of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946, the royal Yugoslav anthem was replaced by "Hey, Slavs". The first post-war constitution of the People's Republic of Slovenia and the constitution, adopted in 1963, did not specify a regional anthem. "Naprej, zastava slave" was used at official public events and on state holidays since the beginning of the 1970s. In spring 1987, it was replaced by "Zdravljica".

свернуть