"Lupang Hinirang" is the national anthem of the Philippines. It started out as an instrumental march commissioned by then Philippine President, Emilio Aguinaldo, to Julian Felipe, for use in the proclamation of Philippine independence on June 12, 1898, replacing a march written by a Filipino in Hong Kong, of which Aguinaldo was not satisfied with. The title of the new march was Marcha Filipina Magdalo ("Magdalo Philippine March"). Later the title was changed to Marcha Nacional Filipina ("Philippine National March") upon its adoptation as the national march on June 11, 1898, a day before the date of Philippine independence. It was played by the San Francisco de Malabon marching band during the declaration on June 12, 1898.

Then, in August 1899, a young poet-soldier named Jose Palma wrote the poem Filipinas in Spanish. It became the lyrics of the national hymn.

During the 1920s, with the repeal of the Flag Law, which banned the use of all Filipino national symbols, the American colonial government decided to translate the national hymn from Spanish to English. The first translation was written around that time by Paz Marquez Benitez of the University of the Philippines, who was also a famous poet during that time. The most popular translation, called the "Philippine Hymn", was written by Senator Camilo Osias and an American, Mary A. Lane. The "Philippine Hymn" was legalized by an act of the Philippine Congress in 1938.

Tagalog translations started appearing during the 1940s, the most popular being O Sintang Lupa ("O Beloved Land") by Julian Cruz Balmaceda, Ildefonso Santos, and Francisco Caballo. O Sintang Lupa was approved as the national anthem in 1948. Finally, during the term of President Ramon Magsaysay, Education Secretary Gregorio Hernandez formed a commission to revise the Tagalog words. On May 26, 1956, the National Anthem, Lupang Hinirang, was finally sung in Filipino. Minor revisions were made in 1966, and it is this final version which is in use today. The Filipino lyrics have been confirmed by a new national symbols law (Republic Act No. 8491 or the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines) in 1998, but the English and Spanish words have not. In fact, the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines specifically provides that the national anthem "shall always be sung in the national language" (which would exclude English, Spanish, and all other regional languages) and that "the singing must be done with fervor", with specific penalties for disobeying this law. However, the English and Spanish texts are recognized as the official words to the national anthem in those languages.