What was the national anthem of Australia before 1864?

Answer 1

"Waltzing Matilda" was the unofficial anthem. Advance Australia Fair is the official national anthem of Australia.

Answer 2

Before 1901 Australia as a nation did not exist and did not have a national anthem, as a British colony from 1864 we used God save the King/Queen, until we changed by referendum to Advance Australia Fair.

Answer 3

‘Advance Australia Fair' is the national anthem of Australia. A revised version of a late nineteenth century patriotic song, it was officially declared the national anthem on 19 April 1984.
Peter Dodds McCormick, a Scot, composed ‘Advance Australia Fair' under the pen-name ‘Amicus' (amicus is the Latin word for friend). It was first performed in Sydney on Saint Andrew's Day, 1878. Peter McCormick died in 1916 and ‘Advance Australia Fair' became free of copyright in 1966.

Although the official anthem was ‘God Save the Queen' (or ‘King') from 1788 to 1974, numerous commercial and official competitions were held over the years to find a substitute. The first was held in 1840.

John Dunmore Lang, who published an ‘Australian Anthem' and an ‘Australian Hymn' in 1826, was an early advocate of a distinctively Australian anthem; Carl Linger of South Australia wrote ‘The Song of Australia' (1860), which was suggested to the then Prime Minister in 1929 as a possible national anthem.

Among the competitions held were one by The Bulletin, which attracted 74 entries, and two by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1943 and 1945. The Commonwealth Jubilee celebrations competition in 1951 was won by Henry Krips with ‘This Land of Mine'.

The issue of a truly national anthem was raised persistently before the 1956 Olympic Games, which were held in Melbourne. ‘Advance Australia Fair' and ‘Waltzing Matilda' were the two songs most strongly favoured then as the new anthem. ‘Waltzing Matilda' was composed in 1895, with lyrics by one of Australia's best known poets, A. B. (‘Banjo') Paterson.

On Australia Day, 26 January, in 1972, the number of entries (400) received in an Australia-wide national anthem quest gave an indication of the interest in a new anthem. Exactly a year later a government-sponsored competition was announced, which drew 2500 entries for the words and 1300 for the music. The judges selected six entries for the words, but rejected all the musical entries.

Answer 4

It was "God Save the King". Why 1864??

Answer 5

oh england we worship ye