Bože pravde

Bože pravde (Serbian Cyrillic: Боже правде; [bǒʒe prâːʋde]; English: God of Justice) is the national anthem of Serbia, as defined by the Article 7 of the Constitution of Serbia. Bože pravde was the anthem of the Principality of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbia until 1918 when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed. It was recommended by the Parliament of Serbia on August 17, 2004 and constitutionally adopted on November 8, 2006. The recommended text was made Law on May 11, 2009. The original song was written in 1872 with music by Davorin Jenko and lyrics by Jovan Đorđević. It was then a piece for the theater play Marko kazuje na kome je carstvo (Marko names the Emperor), and its immense popularity with audiences prompted its adoption as the Serbian national anthem.

While being the anthem of the Kingdom of Serbia, it occasionally was referred to as 'Serbian National Prayer' and the original lyrics contained a petition for the Serbian king. Various rulers of Serbia changed the words of the anthem to suit them. During the rule of Prince Milan I of Serbia, the words were "God, save Prince Milan" (knez Milana Bože spasi), which changed to King Milan when Serbia became a kingdom. Later the anthem was tailored to Peter I and Alexander I as well. During the time of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Kingdom of Yugoslavia), "Bože pravde" was part of its national anthem.

The current anthem uses slightly modified original lyrics, asserting that Serbia is no longer a monarchy — four verses are different. In three, "Serbian king" (srpskog kralja) is changed to "Serbian lands" (srpske zemlje) and in one, "God save the Serbian king" (srpskog kralja Bože spasi, literally The Serbian king, O God, save) is changed to "O God, save; O God, defend" (Bože spasi, Bože brani).

It was also used as an anthem of Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina until 2006, when it was ruled down by the country's constitutional court. The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has ruled against the use of "Bože pravde" as the anthem of Republika Srpska in 2006, declaring it unconstitutional, and the decision was upheld by the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska.

In 1992, Vostani Serbije and Marš na Drinu were proposed as the anthem of Serbia along with Bоže pravde. The latter, promulgated by then-ruling Socialist Party of Serbia, even received a plurality of popular vote on referendum, but was never officially adopted.