Vande Mataram the novel containing it was banned by the British government, but workers and general public defied the ban, many went to colonial prisons repeatedly for singing it, and the ban was overturned by the Indians after they gained independence from the colonial rule. In 1950 (after India's independence), the first two verses of the song were declared the "national song" of the Republic of India, distinct from the national anthem of India, "Jana Gana Mana". The first two verses of the song are an abstract reference to one's mother and motherland, they do not mention any Hindu deity by name,
National anthem of South Africa National anthem of South Africa The current national anthem of South Africa was adopted in 1997 and is a hybrid song combining new English lyrics with extracts of the 19th century hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (, ) and the Afrikaans song "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" (), which was formerly used as the South African national anthem from the late 1930s to the mid-1990s. The South African national anthem is often referred to by its incipit of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", however this has never been its official title, which is simply "National anthem of South Africa". The fact that it shifts