Font Resize
American victory, meet English alcohol » So named by amateur poet Francis Scott Key, above, the star spangled banner is the flag hoisted to signal U.S. victory over British forces in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. Key had witnessed the 25-hour bombardment of Fort McHenry and the subsequent unfurling of the flag "by the dawn's early light." The experience moved him to write a poem he later set to the tune of an English drinking song.
Know your etiquette » Federal law states that during a rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart.
Sources: The Smithsonian Institution, The National Anthem Project
Better late than never » Congress approved "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem in 1931, although it had already been adopted as such by the U.S. Navy in 1889.
Thought you knew all the words? Think again » Although only the first verse of the anthem is typically sung, it actually has four verses. Later verses illustrate Key's disdain for the British, with lines such as "their blood has wiped out their foul footsteps' pollution." Read all the verses at sltrib.com .
The flag's creator » Mary Pickersgill, of Baltimore, made the actual 30-by-42-foot flag, which she sold for $405.90. Lt. Col. George Armistead acquired it when he left the military, and it remained in his family until a grandson donated it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1912. The flag recently has been restored and is on display in the newly reopened National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
In case you forgot » Today is July 4, Independence Day. Fly your flag.
Watch the most famous (and infamous) "Star-Spangled Banner" performances
» From Jimi Hendrix to Marvin Gay and Roseanne Barr, go to our site to some of the more memorable renditions of the past 50 years. www.sltrib.com/bestanthems
The Star Spangled Banner
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
