Back Vers l’avenir Finnish Vers l'avenir French Naar Wijd en Zijd Dutch Vers l'avenir Ukrainian Viè l' avni (tchanson) WA
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| English: Towards the future | |
|---|---|
 A 1907 edition of Vers l'avenir intended for the Catholic youth movement, Jeunes Gardes catholiques of Ixelles. | |
National anthem of the Congo Free State and party anthem of the Rexist Party | |
| Lyrics | Gentil Theodoor Antheunis |
| Relinquished | 1908 (as Congo Free State national anthem) |
| Succeeded by | "La Brabançonne" |
Vers l'avenir (French: [vɛʁ lavniʁ], "Towards the future"), less commonly known by its Dutch title Naar wijd en zijd, is a Belgian nationalist song which was also the national anthem of the Congo Free State. Upon the annexation of the Congo Free State as a colony of Belgium, this anthem was replaced with La Brabançonne, the national anthem of Belgium.[1] Vers l'avenir's lyrics were written by Gentil Theodoor Antheunis (1840–1907). It was also adopted as the anthem of the Rexist Party, a Fascist political movement founded in 1930 by Léon Degrelle.
- ^ Viaene, Vincent (2008). "King Leopold's Imperialism and the Origins of the Belgian Colonial Party, 1860–1905". The Journal of Modern History. 80 (4): 741–790. doi:10.1086/591110. ISSN 0022-2801. JSTOR 10.1086/591110. S2CID 144513498.