Viva, vive, and vivat are interjections used in the Romance languages. Viva in Spanish (plural Vivan),[1]Portuguese (plural Vivam), and Italian (Also evviva. Vivano in plural is rare),[2]Vive in French, and Vivat in Latin (plural Vivant) are subjunctive forms of the verb "to live." Being the third-person (singular or plural agreeing with the subject), subjunctive present conjugation, the terms express a hope on the part of the speaker that another should live. Thus, they mean "(may) he/she/it/they live!" (the word "may" is implied by the subjunctive mood) and are usually translated to English as "long live."
They are often used to salute a person or non-personal entity: "Vive le Québec libre" (from Charles de Gaulle's Vive le Québec libre speech in Montreal), or "Viva il Duce!" the rough equivalent in FascistItaly of the greeting, "HeilHitler." In addition, in monarchical times, the king of France would be wished "Vive le Roi!" and the king of Italy "Viva il Re!" both meaning "May the king live!" or "Long live the king!"
Overview
The acclamation "Vivat!" is still used in British coronations when the sovereign is hailed while processing from the quire of Westminster Abbey towards the coronation theatre, fronting the altar. The shouts are delivered by the King or Queen's Scholars of Westminster School, who by tradition are the first to acclaim the sovereign at the ceremony. This was last performed when King Charles III was crowned in 2023; he was greeted with "Vivat, Rex! / Vivat, Rex Carolus! / Vivat! Vivat! Vivat!" which was incorporated into Hubert Parry's anthem, I was glad.
The mediaeval university Latin anthem De Brevitate Vitae has verses like:
Vivat academia!
Vivant professores!
Vivat academia!
Vivant professores!
Vivat membrum quodlibet
Vivant membra quaelibet
Semper sint in flore.
Compare ¡Viva el rey! with ¡Vivan los reyes!
A frame from the trailer for Viva Zapata!
The Mexican slogan "¡Viva Zapata!" was used to title the 1952 English-language biographical drama film Viva Zapata! by Elia Kazan, about Emiliano Zapata. It later inspired the title of 2005 Italian-language documentary film Viva Zapatero! by Sabina Guzzanti, referring to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
In Italy, the nationalist phrase "Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re d'Italia!" ("Long live Victor Emmanuel king of Italy") was hidden from the Austrian enemy by its acronym Viva VERDI! that passed for a praise of the music of Giuseppe Verdi.
In Italian graffiti, viva is often abbreviated as W, a letter otherwise foreign to Italian.
The opposite concept abbasso ("Down with") is abbreviated with an inverted W.
The use of these terms has increased in non-Latin nations recently; for example, a common greeting regarding the Anglophone city of Las Vegas is "Viva Las Vegas!" One reason may be that West Germanic languages do not have a good equivalent of the term; the closest equivalent may be Heil in German, which has Nazi-tainted connotations, or Hail or Wassail in English. Nevertheless, Hail still appears in certain previously frozen expressions and usages, for example the prayer Hail Mary and the song Hail to the Chief.
On 25 July 2005, upon winning his seventh consecutive Tour de France and subsequently retiring from professional cycling, Lance Armstrong ended his farewell speech with "Vive le Tour, forever".
Sto lat, a Polish birthday song wishing 100 years, and a similar greeting wish
Ten thousand years, translation of a phrase used in many East Asian languages to wish leaders long lives
References
^"vivir". Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish) (23.4 electronic ed.). RAE-ASALE. 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2021. viva, o vivan 1. exprs. U. para expresar deseos de exaltación u homenaje hacia lo mencionado. ¡Vivan los novios!
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