On November 24, 1995, the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina at its 300th session adopted the text and music of the anthem of RB&H, known under the title “Jedna si jedina”. Dino Merlin wrote the text for the anthem, on the music of the folk song “S one strane Plive”.
Although it was replaced by another anthem in 1998, “Jedna si jedina” is still being sung among fans of the national team and at other gatherings. Author of the text Dino Merlin said it means a lot to him that the anthem has taken hold among Bosnians and Herzegovinians and went on to live in their hearts even after it was replaced as the official anthem.
“Even nowadays many people will say that it is the only anthem of our country, and I need no bigger recognition than that. I sang that song on behalf of all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on behalf of all those who perceive Bosnia-Herzegovina as their country, and I am proud I wrote it,” said Merlin.
Anthem “Jedna si jedina” was official anthem until February 19th, 1998, when it was replaced by the current anthem without text, “Intermezzo”, upon the decision of the high representative at that time.
“The National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina” is the name of the national anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is one of four national anthems in the world (along with those of Spain, San Marino, and Kosovo) to have no official lyrics.
Following the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian War in the mid-1990s, Bosnian state symbols were mandated to be inclusive of the country’s main ethnic groups and not make any overt references to a specific one. The Bosnian national anthem that was in use at the time was considered to be insufficiently inclusive towards all of the country’s ethnic groups and thus the United Nations, which oversaw the country as part of the Dayton Agreement, decided to replace it with an instrumental one, which was considered by it to be more inclusive. In the two decades since its inception, various attempts have been made to adopt lyrics for it, most recently in 2018, but due to political disagreements, none have been successful as yet.
The national anthem was adopted provisionally by the UN’s High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina on 25 June 1999 by the promulgation of the Law on the National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina,[5] replacing the previous national anthem, “Jedna si jedina”,[6] which was not particularly well-liked the country’s Serb and Croat communities. The Bosnian government itself formally adopted it in 2001, and it has reportedly been in use along with the flag and coat of arms since 10 February 1998.
