What would Malta's national anthem look like if it became gender neutral? The anthem, penned by Dun Karm Psaila in 1922, speaks of the country as the motherland - l-omm li tatna isima.

In Germany, Kristin Rose-Moehring, equality commissioner since 2001, wants to remove words like "fatherland" and "brotherly" from the country's national anthem.

It is something of a trend, following Canada and Austria in adopting gender neutral phrases.

Rose-Moehring made the proposal to strike male-specific references from the anthem in a letter to staff at Germany's family ministry ahead of International Women's Day.

Germany should replace "Vaterland", or fatherland, with "Heimatland," or homeland, and substitute "courageously with heart and hand" for "brotherly with heart and hand", she wrote.

Rose-Moehring said her proposal suits the times, but she triggered scornful reactions on Twitter, especially from the far right.

"Completely over the top, and not even an April Fool's joke," tweeted a branch of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Another said: "If that happens, I want to change (the phrase) 'mother tongue' too."

The lyrics of the Maltese anthem which are in the form of a prayer, have not changed since 1923. The Maltese government the official Maltese anthem on 22 February 1941. Some have made calls for an updating to reflect Malta's independent status. But no one had complained about the gender status. So far.

The lyrics are the following:

Lil din l-art ħelwa, l-Omm li tatna isimha,  
Ħares, Mulej, kif dejjem Int ħarist:  
Ftakar li lilha bil-oħla dawl libbist. 

Agħti, kbir Alla, id-dehen lil min jaħkimha,  
Rodd il-ħniena lis-sid, saħħa 'l-ħaddiem: 
Seddaq il-għaqda fil-Maltin u s-sliem.