All anthems

United States

The Star-Spangled Banner

1814
1931
Francis Scott Key
John Stafford Smith
🚩 Flag Battle / War 🕊 Freedom God / Faith 💪 Resilience |

Key Facts

  • 1. The melody is borrowed from a British drinking club song called 'To Anacreon in Heaven,' written for the Anacreontic Society in London
  • 2. It only became the official anthem in 1931; before that, 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee' and 'Hail, Columbia' were commonly used
  • 3. The flag that inspired the anthem measured 30 by 42 feet and is now preserved at the Smithsonian, requiring near-total darkness to prevent deterioration
United States - The Star-Spangled Banner

Lyrics

Only the first verse is customarily sung at public events
O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming?

Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals

Analysis

Editorial

Written by Francis Scott Key on the back of a letter while watching the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor on September 14, 1814. Key was aboard a British ship negotiating a prisoner release and had to watch the 25-hour attack unfold. When dawn broke and the enormous American flag was still flying, he wrote the poem that became the anthem.

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