Lyrics of the song "Krasna zemljo" ("Beautiful land") were written by Ivan Cukon in 1912, and the music was composed by Matko Brajša Rašan. The song was written as the Hymn of the Company Saints Cyril and Methodius and later became an unofficial anthem of the region of Istria. As the song was widely accepted as the anthem of the region, the assembly of the Istria County proclaimed the song as the regional anthem of Istria on 23 September 2002. Despite Istria has officially adopted Croatian—Italian bilingualism, the anthem is only sung in Croatian.