La Marseillaise was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle as a marching song for French revolutionary soldiers, originally titled Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin. It was adopted as France's national anthem in 1795 and, after periods of suppression, restored permanently in the late nineteenth century. Today it is sung before French sporting events, at official ceremonies and during national celebrations, and its opening bars are recognised worldwide as a shorthand for France itself.