Before Haiti had an official national anthem, we sang hymns and couplets—powerful verses that carried hope, struggle, and national pride. Between 1791 and 1803

Between 1791 and 1803, as enslaved African people in Saint-Domingue rose against the French colonial regime, they sang their aspirations to the stirring melody of "La Marseillaise," the French revolutionary anthem. These early hymns laid the spiritual foundation for freedom long before the Republic itself was born.

One of the earliest known Haitian patriotic songs — the “Hymne Haïtien” — was reportedly composed and sung for Dessalines for the first time on 21 January 1804, just weeks after independence was declared. It was discovered in the British National Archives, accompanied by a pamphlet version of Haiti’s Declaration of Independence. A handwritten note by Edward Corbet, British Agent for Affairs in Saint-Domingue, confirms it was set to the Marseillaise.

Its message was clear: Only under the leadership of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the "father of the nation," could Haiti remain free and independent. That theme — unity, sovereignty, and devotion to Dessalines — was echoed again in the Couplets performed for Emperor Jacques I in November 1804

It wasn't until 1904, on the centenary of Haiti’s independence, that a formal national anthem was composed. “La Dessalinienne”, written by Justin Lhérisson and composed by Nicolas Geffrard, was chosen as the official anthem. But for much of the 20th century, it remained inaccessible to many Haitians, especially those who spoke only Kreyòl.

That changed in the early 1980s, when Raymond Moïse, a poet and cultural visionary, rewrote La Dessalinienne in Kreyòl — the true mother tongue of the Haitian people. This version returned the anthem to the people, expressing the same revolutionary spirit in a voice they could claim as their own. When Ansy Dérose, a beloved Haitian singer, performed Moïse’s version, it spread like fire — reviving national pride and reminding Haitians of their revolutionary origins.