Nezza’s video went incredibly viral, racking up nearly 14 million views. She followed it up later that evening with an emotional storytime video talking directly to viewers about her experience. She first reads some background on the Spanish version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor” foreign policy, the State Department called for submissions for a singable Spanish-language version of the national anthem to distribute in Latin America. A Peruvian immigrant composer named Clotilde Arias penned the winning song, called “El Pendón Estrellado,” in 1945. It remains the only Spanish version of the national anthem allowed to be sung.
