Malta will tomorrow mark its anniversary as an independent sovereign state. Once more, flags will fly and national anthems will be played and sometimes sung.

The words of a national anthem are learnt in childhood and repeated through one’s adult life, sung with pride but often with very little thought as to their meaning.

This means that, over time, we unwittingly start to ascribe to sentiments that sound decidedly anachronistic.

Take, for example, the anthem of the United States. It is easy to forget that The Star-Spangled Banner contains such bellicose verses as: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

These are hardly the sentiments of a peace-loving nation. Inspired by a battle fought against the British, it is a product of its time. Our national anthem too is a product of its time. In particular, it contains some verses which should read uncomfortably to contemporary minds. How does one react to these verses: “Agħti, kbir Alla, id-dehen lil min jaħkimha”?

Liberally translated this means: “May he who rules, for wisdom be regarded!”. This is an obvious reference to the British monarchy which ruled over Malta at the time of the anthem’s writing.

But there is so much more that is wrong with this. Are we still comfortable with the idea that those who govern the country ‘rule’ over us, let alone our praying to God that they may actually have wisdom? And what about the rest of us? Don’t we deserve wisdom too?

And what does that say about how we perceive the government and the relationship we have with it? Have we, in fact, replaced one form of colonisation with another, with the difference that we have an option of changing the ‘ruler’ every five years, that being the limit of our democracy?

Then there is the verse: “Rodd il-ħniena lis-sid, saħħa ’l-ħaddiem.” This has serious implications. Again, a loose translation of this would be: “Grant mercy to the owner, strength to the worker.”

And we’re back with the strict hierarchical stratification of society. Let’s pray that our rulers are merciful. And let’s hope the workers have the strength to do the work in hand.

Admittedly, it is unusual for the lyrics of a national anthem to be changed.

Of course, the UK has just had to do it because of Queen Elizabeth’s death, changing the words ‘God save the Queen’ to ‘God save the King’.

However, there are more significant examples to draw on.

Two years ago, the Australian national anthem was changed and the words ‘“For we are young and free” were changed to “For we are one and free”, to better reflect what then prime minister Scott Morrison described as a “spirit of unity”.

The implication of the previous version was that Australia’s history began when it was colonised, even though the country has been populated for tens of thousands of years.

While there are no doubt there are more important issues at hand, words do matter. Those embedded in a national anthem are intended to reflect a population’s collective outlook.

So, while we may repeat our national anthem’s words by rote, without giving them too much thought, a slight update would signal the strides that an independent Malta and its people have made over the decades and the changed attitudes it ought to strive for.

Perhaps it is time for a poet to revisit our national anthem and give it the relevance it deserves.