There is no official anthem for Wessex. In an ideal world, Jerusalem, inspired by the legend of the boy Jesus visiting Glastonbury with Joseph of Arimathea and set to music by Hubert Parry in Gloucestershire, would be the choice. But as the de facto national anthem of England, it cannot be said to be uniquely ours.
Wessex Society did commission an anthem, The Very Nëame of Wessex, with music by Hayley Savage and lyrics by Devina Symes, but sadly, it never really caught on. Our own Jim Gunter has written a verse of an anthem, to be sung to the tune of The Red Flag/O Tannenbaum:
Our ancient flag is deepest red
It fell to ground o’er Hastings’ dead
Now it’s time to shed our yoke
And proudly stand as Wessex folk
Let’s raise our scarlet standard high
Within its shade we’ll live and die
We’ll all rise up and never tire
We’ll keep the Wyvern breathing fire
Again, with it being set to such a familiar tune, one can question the extent to which it is truly ours. But it is often sung at the beginning of Wessex Society meetings nonetheless. Perhaps one day, a Wessex composer might pen a song that is universally recognised within the region as the anthem of Wessex.