🎵 Glory to Hong Kong|願榮光歸香港

"Glory to Hong Kong" is a march that was composed and written by a musician under the pseudonym "Thomas dgx yhl", with the contribution of a group of Hongkonger netizens from the online forum LIHKG during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. It was initially written in Cantonese and was eventually developed into various language versions. It has been adopted as the anthem of these protests, with some considering it the "national anthem of Hong Kong". — Wikipedia

Origin & Creation

"Glory to Hong Kong" (願榮光歸香港) emerged in August–September 2019 at the height of the anti-extradition-bill protests. The melody and initial lyrics were written by an anonymous composer using the handle "Thomas dgx yhl", then refined collaboratively by users of the LIHKG forum — an unusually crowd-sourced act of authorship. The first orchestral/choral recording and music video were posted in September 2019 and spread rapidly; crowds soon sang it in shopping malls, on streets, and at protest rallies, where it functioned as a de facto anthem of the movement. Its closing line carries the 2019 slogan "光復香港，時代革命" ("Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times").

Censorship & the Court Ban

As the most recognisable cultural artifact of the 2019 movement, the song became a primary target of the post-National-Security-Law crackdown — making it a fitting entry in this archive.

2020–2022 — After the 2020 National Security Law, schools, broadcasters, and platforms come under pressure to suppress the song; singing or playing it is treated as potentially seditious.
Nov 2022 onward — sporting mix-ups: At international events involving Hong Kong teams (e.g. the Asia Rugby Sevens in Incheon, South Korea, Nov 2022, and an ice-hockey championship in 2023), organisers mistakenly played "Glory to Hong Kong" instead of China's official anthem "March of the Volunteers." Officials blamed Google's search algorithm for surfacing the protest song at the top of results, and the government repeatedly demanded corrections.
June 2023 — The Department of Justice files for a court injunction to ban the song. Around the same time it is pulled from major streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, KKBOX) after its distributor removes it — only to reappear in other versions.
July 2023 — The Court of First Instance refuses the injunction, citing free-expression concerns and a potential "chilling effect" on legitimate use.
8 May 2024 — The Court of Appeal overturns the lower court and grants the injunction, making "Glory to Hong Kong" the first song banned in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover. The order prohibits "broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, disseminating, displaying or reproducing" the song with seditious intent, to advocate Hong Kong independence, or to suggest it is Hong Kong's national anthem — while exempting lawful journalistic and academic activity (HKFP · Al Jazeera).
15 May 2024 — YouTube blocks access to dozens of video versions of the song for users in Hong Kong, complying with the court order; Google says it is "disappointed" (CNN).
25 May & 7 June 2024 — Distributor EmuBands removes the song from Apple Music, Spotify, Facebook, and Instagram again following the court order (HKFP · HKFP).

Despite removals, the song persists through mirrors, re-uploads, offline copies, and international performances — the precise pattern of dispersal-as-preservation this project documents.

Prosecutions & Arrests

Even before the 2024 injunction, authorities prosecuted people for performing, sharing, or remixing the song — and, rather than relying on any direct ban, they reached for whatever offence fit: sedition, the National Anthem Ordinance, humble busking-permit rules, and, more recently, inciting subversion under the National Security Law. Documented cases:

Lai Rifu (賴日福) — Sept 2019, mainland China: A Guangzhou activist was detained for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" after sharing a video that used "Glory to Hong Kong" as background music — among the earliest known prosecutions tied to the song (Wikipedia).
Harmonica player at the Queen's vigil — Sept 19, 2022: A 43-year-old man surnamed Pang was arrested on suspicion of sedition (colonial-era Crimes Ordinance) after playing the tune on a harmonica among mourners outside the British Consulate during Queen Elizabeth II's funeral; he was released on bail pending investigation (CNN).
Rugby anthem-blunder video — Nov 2022: A 49-year-old man was arrested for sedition over social-media posts praising and sharing footage of "Glory to Hong Kong" being played instead of China's anthem at an overseas rugby match (the Incheon Asia Rugby Sevens); he was denied bail and later convicted (SCMP).
Chui Hoi-chun — Dec 2022 / appeal Dec 2025: Sentenced in Dec 2022 to a training-centre order after pleading guilty to four offences, including sedition for publishing altered lyrics of the song and insulting the national anthem. On Dec 18, 2025 the Court of Appeal allowed his sentence appeal and he walked free, having already spent more than two years on bail awaiting the hearing (HKFP).
Cheng Wing-chun (鄭永俊) — convicted Jul 2023: A 27-year-old photographer became the first person tried under the 2020 National Anthem Ordinance, convicted on Jul 5 and jailed for three months on Jul 20, 2023 (plus a flag-desecration charge) for a YouTube clip that replaced "March of the Volunteers" with "Glory to Hong Kong" over footage of fencer Edgar Cheung winning Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020. Magistrate Minnie Wat said he "encouraged others to commit acts damaging to national dignity" (RFA).
Li Jiexin (李解新), the "erhu uncle" (二胡伯伯) — jailed Oct 2023 & again Aug 2024: A retired street musician, 69 at the time of his arrest, was repeatedly prosecuted for playing "Glory to Hong Kong" on the erhu (二胡) at Tai Wai, Mong Kok and the Central IFC footbridge between Aug 2021 and Sep 2022. In his first trial he pleaded not guilty, cast the prosecution as "political persecution," and invoked free-expression protections under the ICCPR — the court hearing that the prosecution's reading of the UN treaty was "too narrow." On Oct 25, 2023 he was convicted of seven counts of performing and fundraising without a permit and jailed 30 days; the magistrate leaned on the government's injunction ruling that the song carries secessionist and seditious force (and its "光復香港，時代革命" refrain), branding his busking a form of "soft resistance" (軟對抗). He dropped his appeal and served the term at once. Charged again over further street performances, he pleaded guilty to eight of twelve summonses and on Aug 7, 2024 was jailed 18 days and had two erhus confiscated (Judge Ivy Chui, West Kowloon). Hong Kong Watch lists him as a political prisoner (The Witness · RFA Cantonese · HKFP: 30 days · HKFP: 2nd jailing · HKW).
Chan Ho-hin — inciting subversion, 2025–26: A 23-year-old waiter became an example of the banned anthem surfacing in a national-security subversion case rather than a sedition or anthem-law one. Between June 2024 and April 2025 he posted 1,184 messages on X and put up A4 street posters in Yau Ma Tei and Wong Tai Sin promoting a pro-Taiwan "Revive the Republic of China" party; seven of the posts featured "Glory to Hong Kong" as the city's purported "regional anthem." Originally charged in April 2025 with publishing seditious material under the Article 23 law, the charge was upgraded to inciting subversion under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law; he pleaded guilty and was sentenced in July 2026 to about two years four months (HKFP · SCMP).

Lyrics

(Cantonese)

願榮光歸香港

何以 這土地 淚再流
何以 令眾人 亦憤恨
昂首 拒默沉 吶喊聲 響透
盼自由 歸於 這裡

何以 這恐懼 抹不走
何以 為信念 從沒退後
何解 血在流 但邁進聲 響透
建自由 光輝 香港

在晚星 墜落 徬徨午夜
迷霧裡 最遠處吹來 號角聲
捍自由 來齊集這裡 來全力抗對
勇氣 智慧 也永不滅

黎明來到 要光復 這香港
同行兒女 為正義 時代革命
祈求 民主與自由 萬世都不朽
我願榮光歸香港

(English)

Glory To Hong Kong

We pledge: No more tears on our land
In wrath, doubts dispell'd we make our stand
Arise! Ye who would not be slaves again
For Hong Kong, may Freedom reign
Though deep is the dread that lies ahead
Yet still with our faith on we tread
Let blood rage afield! Our voice grows evermore
For Hong Kong, may Glory reign
Stars may fade as darkness fills the air
Through the mist a solitary trumpet flares
Now, to arms! For Freedom we fight with all might we strike
With valour, wisdom both, we stride
Break now the dawn, liberate our Hong Kong
In common breath: Revolution of our times
May people reign, proud and free, now and evermore
Glory be to thee Hong Kong