National Anthem, Removing the Final “Yes”: What Changes and Why It's Not New for Paratroopers

It is not a rewriting of the Anthem, nor an ideological revision of the national symbol.
The recent decision to remove the final “Yes” from the official performance of the Italian Anthem adheres to a precise principle: sticking to the original text of Il Canto degli Italiani.

A choice that, while it may appear as a change in public debate, in the military field, and particularly in paratrooper units, represents continuity, which today finally assumes the characteristics of officialdom.

In other branches of the Armed Forces, however, the use of the “Yes” has been more inconsistent: in some contexts, it remained, in others, it did not.

Mameli's Text and the “Yes” Issue

The text of the National Anthem was written in 1847 by Goffredo Mameli and set to music by Michele Novaro. In the original verses, the chorus ends with “L’Italia chiamò”.
The “Yes” does not appear in the poetic text.

Yet, in popular performance, especially in stadiums and occasions with high emotional participation, that “Yes!” has become almost “automatic” over the years. Its origin is not literary, but musical: in the drafting of the musical part, the “Yes!” was indeed inserted as a handwritten annotation, added in pen by Novaro, at the margin of the closure “L’Italia chiamò”. Hence the layering of a performance habit that, over time, has ended up overlapping, in collective perception, with the textual form.

In other words, the “Yes” is not a word of Goffredo Mameli, but a handwritten addition on Michele Novaro's musical score, attributable to a performance note. Precisely for this reason, in official ceremonies, the line adopted today returns to being one of maximum adherence to the text and the formalized version of the Anthem.

The “Provisional” Anthem and the 2017 Law

An often overlooked aspect is that until 2017, the Italian National Anthem did not have a definitive legal definition.
After the fall of the Monarchy and the birth of the Republic, in 1946 Il Canto degli Italiani was adopted as a provisional Anthem, replacing the Royal March, used during the monarchical period.

That provisional status, lasting over seventy years, makes the layering of performance habits and non-formalized variants understandable. Only with Law no. 181 of December 4, 2017, did the State officially sanction the text and music of the National Anthem, definitively fixing its form.
And even in the official text, the final “Yes” does not appear.

Performance Discipline and the Armed Forces

The most recent guidelines on official ceremonies, also adopted by the Armed Forces, reiterate the need to perform the Anthem without textual additions, adhering to the formally recognized version. Hence the decision to no longer pronounce the final “Yes”.

It is not a symbolic modification of the Anthem, but a formal rationalization, consistent with an institutional approach faithful to the historical source.

For those familiar with military culture, the news takes on a different meaning.

In the Paratrooper units of the Italian Army and in some other units, the final “Yes” has never been shouted. The Anthem has always ended with “L’Italia chiamò”, without additional emphasis.

Not as a result of a written rule, but due to unit style: a tradition marked by composure, discipline, and formal rigor. A practice that today, in fact, is being extended to the entire perimeter of the State's official ceremonies.

Continuity More Than Change

Talking about a “change of Mameli's Anthem” is, technically, incorrect.
The Anthem remains identical. Only the way it is performed changes, eliminating an element that does not belong to the original text nor to the official one.

In this sense, the line adopted by the institutions mirrors a model already present for years in the military field.

Beyond political or symbolic interpretations, the elimination of the final “Yes” should be seen as a return to the source, rather than an innovation. A choice that reduces emphasis and strengthens the historical, legal, and formal coherence of the Republic's main sound symbol.

For many units, nothing changes.
For the rest of the country, it is simply the acknowledgment of a fact often forgotten: the “Yes” was never there, neither in Mameli's text nor in the official Anthem of the Republic.

Official Documents

Anthem score - Source: Italian Government - Presidency of the Council of Ministers

Digital copy of Michele Novaro's musical score and the text of "Il Canto degli Italiani" by Goffredo Mameli - Source: Italian Government Presidency of the Council of Ministers

Official text of the Italian Anthem on the Quirinale website