The spontaneous emission from hollow‐cathode discharges in flowing nitrogen is investigated spectroscopically. The vibrational energy distributions in theC3&Pgr;ustate of N2and theB2&Sgr;u+state of N2+are studied as a function of discharge current, magnetic‐field strength, and gas flow. The rotational energy distributions in these electronic states of N2have also been determined. The effective rotational and vibrational excitation temperatures are found to be low,TR≈2000°K andTV≈10 000°K respectively. The electronic excitation of N+, the dominant emitting atomic species, is found to correspond to much higher temperatures,Texc=35 000°K.