The Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States. Its words were written by Francis Scott Key in September 1814, after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, and set to a popular British tune. It became the official anthem in 1931.
Defence of Fort M'Henry
Key wrote the first draft on the back of a letter while still aboard a ship in Baltimore harbour, and finished it in a hotel in Baltimore. It was printed as a broadside on 17 September 1814 under the title Defence of Fort M'Henry.
The poem has four stanzas; the first, a question about the flag at dawn, is the one usually sung.
The tune
The words were sung to the melody of To Anacreon in Heaven, the song of a London gentlemen's music club, the Anacreontic Society, composed by John Stafford Smith around 1775.
The song soon took the title The Star-Spangled Banner and became popular, especially during the Civil War.
National anthem
The US Navy adopted it for official use in 1889, and President Woodrow Wilson ordered it played at official events in 1916. Congress made it the national anthem on 3 March 1931.
Key's manuscript is kept at the Maryland Center for History and Culture in Baltimore.
Anecdotes
A wide range
The anthem spans an octave and a half, which makes it notoriously difficult to sing.
The flag survives
The garrison flag that flew over Fort McHenry, 30 by 42 feet, is displayed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote The Star-Spangled Banner?
Francis Scott Key wrote the words in 1814; the tune is John Stafford Smith's To Anacreon in Heaven.
When did it become the national anthem?
In 1931, by act of Congress.
What was its first title?
Defence of Fort M'Henry.