The Star-Spangled Banner

{{hatnote group|

{{Redirect|Defense of Fort M'Henry|the 1814 battle|Battle of Baltimore}} }}

{{Infobox anthem

| title = "The Star-Spangled Banner"

| image = Star Spangled Banner (Carr) (1814).png{{!}}border

| caption = The earliest surviving sheet music of "The Star-Spangled Banner" from 1814

| country = the United States

| composer = John Stafford Smith

| music_date = {{Start date and age|1773}}

| author = Francis Scott Key

| lyrics_date = {{Start date and age|1814}}

| adopted = March 3, {{Start date and age|df=yes|1931}}

| predecessor = "Hail, Columbia" (de facto)
"My Country, 'Tis of Thee" (de facto)

| sound = Star Spangled Banner instrumental.ogg

| sound_title = "The Star-Spangled Banner" (instrumental version by United States Navy Band)

}}

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry",{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100010457 |title=Defence of Fort M'Henry | Library of Congress |website=Loc.gov |access-date=April 18, 2017}} a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large U.S. flag, with 15 stars and 15 stripes, known as the Star-Spangled Banner, flying triumphantly above the fort after the battle.

The poem was set to the music of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a social club in London. Smith's song, "To Anacreon in Heaven" (or "The Anacreontic Song"), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. This setting, renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner", soon became a popular patriotic song. With a range of 19 semitones, it is known for being very difficult to sing, in part because the melody sung today is the soprano part. Although the poem has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today with the second to fourth being rarely sung.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" was first recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889. On March 3, 1931, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution ({{USStat|46|1508}}) making the song the official national anthem of the United States, which President Herbert Hoover signed into law. The resolution is now codified at {{USCClause|36|301|(a)}}.

History

=Francis Scott Key's lyrics=

File:KeysSSB.jpg's original manuscript copy of his "{{Notatypo|Defence}} of Fort M'Henry" poem, now on display at the Maryland Historical Society]]

File:Ft. Henry bombardement 1814.jpg]]

File:Star Spangled Banner Flag on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of History and Technology, around 1964.jpg" that inspired the poem]]

On August 28, 1814, William Beanes, a physician who resided in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was arrested by British forces in his home after the Burning of Washington and the Raid on Alexandria. A friend of Key's, Beanes was accused of aiding the detention of several British Army stragglers who were ransacking local homesteads in search of food.Vaise, Vince (Chief Park Ranger, Fort McHenry). [https://www.c-span.org/video/?321206-1/discussion-fort-mchenry-birth-star-spangled-banner&fbclid=IwAR21Hel99h2QxGIXDupCHEFudhxa19uQew-NhLc0xSURoUS7DKxXpNTsbk4 "Birth of the Star Spangled Banner"], video tour from Fort McHenry. American History TV: American Artifacts, C-SPAN, August 2014

On September 2, 1814, Key wrote a letter from his home in Georgetown to his mother, ending with:

I am going in the morning to Baltimore to proceed in a flag-vessel to Genl Ross. Old Dr Beanes of Marlbro' is taken prisoner by the Enemy, who threaten to carry him off – Some of his friends have urged me to apply for a flag & go & try to procure his release. I hope to return in about 8 or 10 days, though [it] is uncertain, as I do not know where to find the fleet. – As soon as I get back I hope I shall be able to set out for Fred[ericksburg] – ...Delaplaine, Edward S. Francis Scott Key: Life and Times (1937) Reprinted by American Foundation Publications, Stuarts Draft, Virginia. 1998 (p. 154)

Under sanction from President Madison, on September 3, Key traveled {{Convert|40|mi}} by land from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore, where he arrived on the morning of September 4. He located Col. John Stuart Skinner, an American agent for prisoners of war, who leased a {{Convert|60|ft|4=1|adj=on}} sloop-rigged packet ship belonging to John and Benjamin Ferguson, brothers who owned a cargo and passenger service between Baltimore and Norfolk. The ship had a nine-man crew and was captained by a co-owner, John Ferguson. They sailed from Baltimore the next day (September 5) out through the Patapsco River and then south, down the Chesapeake Bay. As recorded in the British ships' logs, on September 6, they had rendezvoused with HMS Royal Oak and several British troopships near the mouth of the Patuxant. There they learned Beanes was aboard HMS Tonnant further down in the Bay. Rear Admiral Pulteney Malcolm assigned the frigate Hebrus to escort the American sloop to Tangier Island, where he thought Tonnant was located.

On September 7, around noon, they spotted Tonnant near the mouth of the Potomac. The flagship then anchored and brought Key and Skinner aboard.Skinner, John Stuart. "Incidents of the War of 1812", The Baltimore Patriot, May 23, 1849. Reprinted: Maryland Historical Magazine, Baltimore. Vol. 32, 1937. (pp. [https://archive.org/details/marylandhistoric3219mary/page/340/mode/2up 340–347])Vogel, Steve. Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation, Random House, New York. 2013.

It was aboard Tonnant, after dinner, that Skinner and Key secured the release of Beanes after conversing with Major-General Robert Ross and Vice-Admiral Alexander Cochrane. Ross initially refused to release Beanes, but relented after reading letters, brought by Key, written by wounded British prisoners of war praising American doctors for their kind treatment. Because Key and Skinner had overheard details of the plans for the attack on Baltimore, they were prevented from going ashore until after the battle, several days later.

From Tonnant, Key, Skinner, and Beanes were transferred to the frigate HMS Surprise on the morning of September 8. The fleet then slowly moved up the Chesapeake toward Baltimore. The truce vessel was in tow with Surprise. On September 11, off the North Point peninsula, Colonel Skinner insisted that they be transferred back to their own truce vessel, which they were allowed to do, under guard. It was still tethered to Surprise. Admiral Cochrane then transferred his flag to the shallow-draft Surprise so he could move in with the bombardment squadron. Having advanced into the Patapsco River, the 16-ship attack force began to fire on Fort McHenry at sunrise on September 13; the bombardment would last 25 hours.Hickey, Donald (ed.) The War of 1812: Writings from America's Second War of Independence (The Library of America, 2013), pp. [https://loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/Key_Taney.pdf 547–555] (Letter from Roger B. Taney to Charles Howard – 1856)Armistead, Lieutenant Colonel George (Commander of Fort McHenry). [https://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/pdf/TRANSCRIPT%20Official%20Account%20of%20the%20Bombardment%20of%20Fort%20McHenry.pdf "Official Report to Secretary of War James Monroe"], 24 September 2014

During the rainy day and through the night, Key had witnessed the bombardment and observed that the fort's smaller "storm flag" ({{Convert|17 by 25|ft}}) continued to fly, but once the bomb and Congreve rocket[https://web.archive.org/web/20070814024634/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hh/5/hh5l.htm British Rockets] at the US National Park Service, Fort McHenry National Monument, and Historic Shrine. Retrieved February 2008. barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn. On the morning of September 14, the storm flag had been lowered and the large garrison flag ({{Convert|30 by 42|ft}}) had been raised.

During the bombardment, HMS Erebus provided the "rockets' red glare", while the heavy-mortar bomb ships HMS Terror, Volcano, Devastation, Meteor and Aetna provided the "bombs bursting in air".Sheads, Scott S. The Rockets' Red Glare: The Maritime Defense of Baltimore in 1814, Tidewater Publishers, Centerville, Maryland. 1986 (p. 127) Around 1,500 to 1,800 bomb shells and over 700 rockets were fired at the fort but with minimal casualties and damage being done. Four men died and 24 were wounded in the fort. The ships were forced to fire from their maximum range (with minimal accuracy) to stay out of range of the fort's formidable cannon fire.

Key was inspired by the U.S. victory and the sight of the large U.S. flag flying triumphantly above the fort. This flag (as well as the storm flag), with 15 stars and 15 stripes, had been made by Mary Young Pickersgill together with other workers in her home on Baltimore's Pratt Street.Johnston, Sally and Pilling, Pat. Mary Young Pickersgill: Flag Maker of the Star-Spangled Banner, AuthorHouse, Bloomington, Indiana. 2014 (pp. 22–35) The flag later came to be known as the Star-Spangled Banner, and is today on display in the National Museum of American History, a treasure of the Smithsonian Institution. It was restored in 1914 by Amelia Fowler, and again in 1998 as part of an ongoing conservation program.{{cite web | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-story-behind-the-star-spangled-banner-149220970/ | title=The Story Behind the Star Spangled Banner }}

Aboard the ship that morning, Key began writing his lyrics on the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket. Late afternoon on September 16, Key, Skinner and Beanes were released from the fleet and they arrived in Baltimore that evening. He completed the poem at the Indian Queen Hotel, where he was staying. His finished manuscript was untitled and unsigned. When printed as a broadside, the next day, it was given the title "{{Notatypo|Defence}} of Fort M'Henry". It was first published nationally in The Analectic Magazine.{{Cite web| title = John Wiley & Sons: 200 Years of Publishing – Birth of the New American Literature: 1807–1826| access-date = April 27, 2018| url = https://www.wiley.com/legacy/about/grolierexhibit/theme02.html}}{{Cite journal| volume = 4| pages = 433–434| title = {{Notatypo|Defence}} of Fort M'Henry| journal = The Analectic Magazine | date = November 1814| hdl = 2027/umn.31951000925404p}}

Much of the idea of the poem, including the flag imagery and some of the wording, is derived from an earlier song by Key, also set to the tune of "The Anacreontic Song". The song, known as "When the Warrior Returns",{{cite web|url=http://www.potw.org/archive/potw340.html |title=When the Warrior Returns – Key |website=Potw.org |access-date=April 18, 2017}} was written in honor of Stephen Decatur and Charles Stewart on their return from the First Barbary War.{{cite book |last1=Vile |first1=John R. |title=America's National Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner" in U.S. History, Culture, and Law |date=2021 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-7319-5 |page=277 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vQsVEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA277 |language=en |quote=Key composed a poem for an event honoring Stephen Decatur and Charles Stewart, two heroes of the war in Tripoli}}

Since the 1990s, the anthem has become controversial due to perceived racism in the anthem's lyrics and Key's active support of slavery. The anthem's third stanza uses the phrase "the hireling and slave", which had been interpreted by several commentators to refer to American slaves who escaped to the British military during the war, as Britain offered them freedom and the opportunity to join the Corps of Colonial Marines to fight against U.S. forces. Key was also a slaveholder throughout much of his life. According to The Nation, Key's "message to the blacks fighting for freedom was unmistakable—we will hunt you down and the search will leave you in terror because, when we find you, your next stop is the gloom of the grave".{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/video-do-you-know-the-star-spangled-banners-third-verse/|title=Video: Do You Know the Star-Spangled Banner's 3rd Verse?|first=Jeffery|last=Robinson|date=July 4, 2018|via=www.thenation.com}} The reference to slaves, which was perceived as being racist towards Black Americans, purportedly prevented the song being adopted as the U.S. national anthem for almost a century.{{cite news |last1=Brockell |first1=Gillian |title=The ugly reason 'The Star-Spangled Banner' didn't become our national anthem for a century |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/10/18/star-spangled-banner-racist-national-anthem/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=4 May 2024 |date=18 October 2020}}

Conversely, University of Michigan professor Mark Clague and Key's biographer has claimed that the poem celebrates the courage of the American soldiers, both black and white, who helped defend the fortress and the city. The controversial phrase, "the hireling and the slave", according to Clague, actually refers to British armed forces personnel and their American collaborators regardless of race, who are promised either death on the battlefield or, similarly to United Empire Loyalists after the American Revolution, permanent exile once the British Empire is defeated.{{cite news|author=Mark Clague |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/opinions/star-spangled-banner-criticisms-opinion-clague/index.html |title='Star-Spangled Banner' critics miss the point |website=CNN.com |date=August 31, 2016 |access-date=April 18, 2017}} This interpretation is consistent with what Celticist Michael Newton has written about how, during the American Revolution, "slavery" and "oppression" were routinely used as Patriot code words for continued "British rule" over the United States.Michael Newton (2001), We're Indians Sure Enough: The Legacy of the Scottish Highlanders in the United States, Saorsa Media. Page 118.

Also according to Clague, Francis Scott Key freed four of the seven slaves he inherited and was involved in his later years with the American Colonization Society's practice of buying slaves and setting them free in what is now Liberia. Key's poem, according to Clague, "in no way glorifies or celebrates slavery." However, Clague's interpretation of the song has been criticised for going against mainstream academic historical consensus, as the majority of recent scholars who have written about slavery during the War of 1812, such as Gene A. Smith, Marc Leepson and David Roediger have alleged that Key was referencing only American runaway slaves rather than late stage American Loyalists in the passage.{{cite web|url=https://theintercept.com/2016/08/28/colin-kaepernick-is-righter-than-you-know-the-national-anthem-is-a-celebration-of-slavery |title=Colin Kaepernick Is Righter Than You Know: The National Anthem Is a Celebration of Slavery |website=Theintercept.com |date=August 28, 2016 |access-date=April 18, 2017}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/arts/music/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem.html?_r=0|title=Is the National Anthem Racist? Beyond the Debate Over Colin Kaepernick|date=September 3, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710220702/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/arts/music/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem.html?_r=0|archive-date=July 10, 2017}} In 2016, The New Yorker argued that "[is] The Star-Spangled Banner" racist? The short answer is yes, insofar as almost every older piece of American iconography cannot be rid of the stain of slavery."{{cite magazine | url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/colin-kaepernick-and-the-radical-uses-of-the-star-spangled-banner#:~:text=On%20Friday%20night%2C%20the%20San,an%20interview%20with%20NFL%20Media | title=Colin Kaepernick and the Radical Uses of "The Star-Spangled Banner" | magazine=The New Yorker | date=August 29, 2016 | last1=Robin | first1=William }}

=John Stafford Smith's music=

File:JohnStaffordSmith01.jpg in Gloucester Cathedral in Gloucester, England]]

Key gave the poem to his brother-in-law Joseph H. Nicholson who saw that the words fit the popular melody "The Anacreontic Song", by English composer John Stafford Smith. This was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. Nicholson took the poem to a printer in Baltimore, who anonymously made the first known broadside printing on September 17; of these, two known copies survive.{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Star_Spangled_Banner_(Carr)_(1814).png|title=File:Star Spangled Banner (Carr) (1814).png|date=November 1814 }}

On September 20, both the Baltimore Patriot and The American printed the song, with the note "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven". The song quickly became popular; it was ultimately printed in 17 newspapers from Georgia to New Hampshire. Soon after, Thomas Carr of the Carr Music Store in Baltimore published the words and music together under the title "The Star Spangled Banner", although it was originally called "Defence of Fort M'Henry". Thomas Carr's arrangement introduced the raised fourth which became the standard deviation from "The Anacreontic Song".Clague, Mark, and Jamie Vander Broek. "[https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/120293/star_spangled_banner_14.pdf Banner moments: the national anthem in American life]". University of Michigan, 2014. 4. The song's popularity increased and its first public performance took place in October when Baltimore actor Ferdinand Durang sang it at Captain McCauley's tavern. Washington Irving, then editor of the Analectic Magazine in Philadelphia, reprinted the song in November 1814.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

By the early 20th century, there were various versions of the song in popular use. Seeking a singular, standard version, President Woodrow Wilson tasked the U.S. Bureau of Education with providing that official version. In response, the Bureau enlisted the help of five musicians to agree upon an arrangement. Those musicians were Walter Damrosch, Will Earhart, Arnold J. Gantvoort, Oscar Sonneck and John Philip Sousa. The standardized version that was voted upon by these five musicians premiered at Carnegie Hall on December 5, 1917, in a program that included Edward Elgar's Carillon and Gabriel Pierné's The Children's Crusade. The concert was put on by the Oratorio Society of New York and conducted by Walter Damrosch.{{cite web |url=http://www.oratoriosocietyofny.org/FeaturesArchive/StarSpangledBanner.html |title=Oratorio Society of New York – Star Spangled Banner |website=Oratoriosocietyofny.org |access-date=April 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821104152/http://www.oratoriosocietyofny.org/FeaturesArchive/StarSpangledBanner.html |archive-date=August 21, 2016 |url-status=dead }} An official handwritten version of the final votes of these five men has been found and shows all five men's votes tallied, measure by measure.{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/201101T20.html |title=Standardization Manuscript for "The Star Spangled Banner" | Antiques Roadshow |publisher=PBS |access-date=April 18, 2017 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305152919/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/201101T20.html |url-status=dead }}

=National anthem=

File:Star-Spangled Banner plaque.JPG in Washington, D.C., marking the site at 601 Pennsylvania Avenue where "The Star-Spangled Banner" was first publicly sung]]

File:Defence of Fort M'Henry broadside.jpg

The song gained popularity throughout the 19th century, and bands played it during public events such as Independence Day celebrations.

A plaque displayed at Fort Meade, South Dakota, claims that the idea of making "The Star Spangled Banner" the national anthem began on their parade ground in 1892. Colonel Caleb Carlton, post commander, established the tradition that the song be played "at retreat and at the close of parades and concerts." Carlton explained the custom to Governor Sheldon of South Dakota who "promised me that he would try to have the custom established among the state militia." Carlton wrote that after a similar discussion, Secretary of War Daniel S. Lamont issued an order that it "be played at every Army post every evening at retreat."Plaque, Fort Meade, erected 1976 by the Fort Meade V.A. Hospital and the South Dakota State Historical Society

In 1889, the U.S. Navy officially adopted "The Star-Spangled Banner".{{cite news|last1=Cavanaugh|first1=Ray|title=The Star-Spangled Banner: an American anthem with a very British beginning|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/04/star-spangled-banner-national-anthem-british-origins|access-date=September 27, 2017|work=The Guardian|date=July 4, 2016}} In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered that "The Star-Spangled Banner" be played at military and other appropriate occasions. The playing of the song two years later during the seventh-inning stretch of Game One of the 1918 World Series, and thereafter during each game of the series is often cited as the first instance that the anthem was played at a baseball game,{{cite web|url=http://baseballisms.com/cubs-vs-red-sox-1918-world-series-a-tradition-is-born.html |title=Cubs vs Red Sox 1918 World Series: A Tradition is Born |website=Baseballisms.com |date=May 21, 2011 |access-date=April 18, 2017}} though evidence shows that the "Star-Spangled Banner" was performed as early as 1897 at Opening Day ceremonies in Philadelphia and then more regularly at the Polo Grounds in New York City beginning in 1898. The tradition of performing the national anthem before every baseball game began in World War II.{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0711/music.traditions.sports/content.3.html |title=Musical Traditions in Sports: National Anthems |access-date=February 3, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222060554/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0711/music.traditions.sports/content.3.html |archive-date=February 22, 2014 }}

Between 1918 and 1929, John Charles Linthicum, the U.S. congressman from Maryland at the time, introduced a series of six unsuccessful bills to officially recognize "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem."[https://www.proquest.com/docview/539402147/ National Anthem Hearing Is Set For January 31]". The Baltimore Sun. January 23, 1930. p. 4.

In 1927, with the thought that "The Star-Spangled Banner" was unsuited for a national anthem, the National Federation of Music Clubs sponsored a composition contest to nominate a national anthem. They selected the text of America The Beautiful; 901 compositions were submitted for the $1,500 prize ({{Inflation|US|1500|1927|fmt=eq}}). Frank Damrosch, Frederick Converse, Felix Borowski, and Peter Lutkin judged the compositions but nominated no winner.{{Cite magazine |date=1927-05-02 |title=Music: Russian Rebuke |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,751675,00.html |access-date=2023-04-15 |issn=0040-781X}}

On November 3, 1929, Robert Ripley drew a panel in his syndicated cartoon, Ripley's Believe it or Not!, saying "Believe It or Not, America has no national anthem".{{cite web|url=http://www.ripleysnewsroom.com/anthem/ |title=Company News – Ripley Entertainment Inc |website=Ripleysnewsroom.com |access-date=April 18, 2017}}

In 1930, Veterans of Foreign Wars started a petition for the United States to officially recognize "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem."[https://www.proquest.com/docview/99050173/ 5,000,000 Sign for Anthem: Fifty-Mile Petition Supports "The Star-Spangled Banner" Bill]". The New York Times. January 19, 1930. p. 31. Five million people signed the petition. The petition was presented to the United States House Committee on the Judiciary on January 31, 1930."[https://www.proquest.com/docview/150159183/ 5,000,000 Plea For U.S. Anthem: Giant Petition to Be Given Judiciary Committee of Senate Today]". The Washington Post. January 31, 1930. p. 2. On the same day, Elsie Jorss-Reilley and Grace Evelyn Boudlin sang the song to the committee to refute the perception that it was too high pitched for a typical person to sing."[https://www.proquest.com/docview/99097518/ Committee Hears Star-Spangled Banner Sung: Studies Bill to Make It the National Anthem]". The New York Times. February 1, 1930. p. 1. The committee voted in favor of sending the bill to the House floor for a vote."[https://www.proquest.com/docview/99004508/ 'Star-Spangled Banner' Favored As Anthem in Report to House]". The New York Times. February 5, 1930. p. 3. The House of Representatives passed the bill later that year. The Senate passed the bill on March 3, 1931."[https://www.proquest.com/docview/99446706/ 'Star Spangled Banner' Is Voted National Anthem by Congress]". The New York Times. March 4, 1931. p. 1. President Herbert Hoover signed the bill on March 4, 1931, officially adopting "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem of the United States of America."[https://www.proquest.com/docview/150173140/ "Star-Spangled Banner" Is Now Official Anthem]". The Washington Post. March 5, 1931. p. 3. As currently codified, the United States Code states that "[t]he composition consisting of the words and music known as the Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem."{{UnitedStatesCode|36|301}}. Although all four stanzas of the poem officially compose the National Anthem, only the first stanza is generally sung, the other three being much less well known.{{Cite web |last=Akins |first=Ravyn |date=2018-01-28 |title=Why we sing one verse of the national anthem |url=https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Why-we-sing-one-verse-of-the-national-anthem-12527008.php |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=StamfordAdvocate |language=en-US |archive-date=March 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330230142/https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Why-we-sing-one-verse-of-the-national-anthem-12527008.php |url-status=dead }}

Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of U.S. officialdom. "Hail, Columbia" served this purpose at official functions for most of the 19th century. "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", whose melody is identical to "God Save the King", the United Kingdom's national anthem,{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200000012/default.html

|title=My country 'tis of thee [Song Collection]

|publisher=The Library of Congress

|access-date=January 20, 2009

}} also served as a de facto national anthem.{{cite book |last=Snyder |first=Lois Leo |author-link=Louis Leo Snyder |title=Encyclopedia of Nationalism |publisher=Paragon House |year=1990 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofna00snyd/page/13 13] |isbn=1-55778-167-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofna00snyd/page/13 }} Following the War of 1812 and subsequent U.S. wars, other songs emerged to compete for popularity at public events, among them "America the Beautiful", which itself was being considered before 1931 as a candidate to become the national anthem of the United States.{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/america-the-beautiful-p2-2456277 |title=Who Wrote "America the Beautiful"? The History of America's Unofficial National Anthem |last=Estrella |first=Espie |date=September 2, 2018 |website=thoughtco.com |publisher=ThoughtCo |access-date=November 14, 2018 |quote=Many consider "America the Beautiful" to be the unofficial national anthem of the United States. In fact, it was one of the songs being considered as a U.S. national anthem before "Star Spangled Banner" was officially chosen. |archive-date=November 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114224212/https://www.thoughtco.com/america-the-beautiful-p2-2456277 |url-status=dead }}

In the fourth verse, Key's 1814 published version of the poem is written as, "And this be our motto-"In God is our trust!"" In 1956 when 'In God We Trust' was under consideration to be adopted as the national motto of the United States by the US Congress, the words of the fourth verse of The Star Spangled Banner were brought up in arguments supporting adoption of the motto.{{cite journal|title=Adopting In God We Trust as the U.S. National Motto|vauthors=Fisher, Louis, ((Mourtada-Sabbah, Nada))|journal=Journal of Church and State|volume=44|date=2002|issue=4|pages=682–83|doi=10.1093/jcs/44.4.671|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/jchs44&id=685&collection=journals&index=|via=HeinOnline|url-access=subscription | issn=0021-969X }} (Referencing H. Rept. No. 1959, 84th Cong., 2d Sess. (1956) and S. Rept. No. 2703, 84th Cong., 2d Sess. (1956), 2.)

Modern history

{{Main|Performances and adaptations of The Star-Spangled Banner}}

=Performances=

File:Usnationalanthemcrowd.jpg in Denver]]

The song is notoriously difficult for nonprofessionals to sing because of its wide range{{spaced ndash}}a twelfth. Humorist Richard Armour referred to the song's difficulty in his book It All Started With Columbus:

{{blockquote|In an attempt to take Baltimore, the British attacked Fort McHenry, which protected the harbor. Bombs were soon bursting in air, rockets were glaring, and all in all it was a moment of great historical interest. During the bombardment, a young lawyer named Francis Off Key {{small|{{sic}}}} wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner", and when, by the dawn's early light, the British heard it sung, they fled in terror.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CJmDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22 |title=The Grammar of Rock: Art and Artlessness in 20th Century Pop Lyrics |last=Theroux |first=Alexander |date=February 16, 2013 |publisher=Fantagraphics Books |isbn=9781606996164 |pages=22 }}}}

Professional and amateur singers have been known to forget the words, which is one reason the song is sometimes pre-recorded and lip-synced. Pop singer Christina Aguilera performed wrong lyrics to the song prior to Super Bowl XLV, replacing the song's fourth line, "o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming", with an alteration of the second line, "what so proudly we watched at the twilight's last gleaming".{{cite news|url=http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/06/aguilera-flubs-national-anthem-at-super-bowl/?hpt=C2|title=Aguilera flubs national anthem at Super Bowl|date=2011-02-06|work=CNN|access-date=February 7, 2011|archive-date=February 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110210044342/http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/06/aguilera-flubs-national-anthem-at-super-bowl/?hpt=C2|url-status=dead}} Other times the issue is avoided by having the performer(s) play the anthem instrumentally instead of singing it. The pre-recording of the anthem has become standard practice at some ballparks, such as Boston's Fenway Park, according to the SABR publication The Fenway Project.{{cite web|work=Red Sox Connection|url=http://www.redsoxconnection.com/fenwayproject.html|title=The Fenway Project – Part One|date=May 2004|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101190408/http://www.redsoxconnection.com/fenwayproject.html|archive-date=January 1, 2016}}

"The Star-Spangled Banner" has been performed regularly at the beginning of NFL games since the end of WWII by order of NFL commissioner Elmer Layden.{{cite web|work=History.com|url=https://www.history.com/news/why-the-star-spangled-banner-is-played-at-sporting-events|title=History.com article para 6|date=September 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916173107/https://www.history.com/news/why-the-star-spangled-banner-is-played-at-sporting-events|archive-date=September 16, 2018}} The song has also been intermittently performed at baseball games since after WWI. The National Hockey League and Major League Soccer both require venues in both the U.S. and Canada to perform both the Canadian and U.S. national anthems at games that involve teams from both countries (with the "away" anthem being performed first).{{cite news|last=Allen|first=Kevin|access-date=October 29, 2008|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2003-03-23-anthem-booing_x.htm|title=NHL Seeks to Stop Booing For a Song|work=USA Today|date=March 23, 2003}}{{better source needed|reason=this doesn't mention that the practice is required|date=October 2012}} It is also usual for both U.S. and Canadian anthems (done in the same way as the NHL and MLS) to be played at Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association games involving the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Raptors respectively, the only Canadian teams in those two major U.S. sports leagues, and in All Star Games in MLB, the NBA, and the NHL. The Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, which play in a city on the Canada–US border and have a substantial Canadian fan base, play both anthems before all home games regardless of where the visiting team is based.{{cite web|url=http://sabres.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=36566#linkN |title=Fanzone, A–Z Guide: National Anthems |website=Buffalo Sabres |access-date=November 20, 2014 |quote=If you are interested in singing the National Anthems at a sporting event at First Niagara Center, you must submit a DVD or CD of your performance of both the Canadian & American National Anthems...}} Recently with the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB playing international games outside of the United States and Canada, "The Star-Spangled Banner" has been performed alongside the host country's national anthem.{{cite web |last1=Sullivan |first1=Cole |title=National Anthem Performance Before Jaguars-Bears Game in London Goes Viral |url=https://athlonsports.com/nfl/national-anthem-performance-before-jaguars-bears-game-in-london-goes-viral |website=Athlon Sports |access-date=29 November 2024 |date=13 October 2024}}

Two especially unusual performances of the song took place in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks. On September 12, 2001, Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom, broke with tradition and allowed the Band of the Coldstream Guards to perform the anthem at Buckingham Palace, London, at the ceremonial Changing of the Guard, as a gesture of support for Britain's ally.Graves, David (September 14, 2001) [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1340465/Palace-breaks-with-tradition-in-musical-tribute.html "Palace breaks with tradition in musical tribute"]. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved August 24, 2011 The following day at a St. Paul's Cathedral memorial service, the Queen joined in the singing of the anthem, an unprecedented occurrence.{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615063646/http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-steyn091701.shtml|archive-date=June 15, 2013|url=http://old.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-steyn091701.shtml |first=Mark |last=Steyn|date=September 17, 2001|work=National Review |access-date=April 10, 2013|title=The Queen's Tears/And global resolve against terrorism}} The Star Spangled Banner was played by the Coldstream Guards again at Windsor Castle on the 20th anniversary of the attacks.{{Citation |title=9/11 anniversary: U.S. anthem at UK's royal castle | date=September 11, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRhg91ak_7E |access-date=2024-03-10 |language=en}}

During the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the anthem was sung by protesters demonstrating outside the U.S. consulate-general in an appeal to the U.S. government to help them with their cause.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hong-kong-protesters-sing-star-spangled-banner-appeal-trump-liberate-n1051166|title=Hong Kong protesters sing U.S. anthem in appeal for Trump's help|date=September 8, 2019 |publisher=NBC News|access-date=December 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190910012949/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hong-kong-protesters-sing-star-spangled-banner-appeal-trump-liberate-n1051166|archive-date=September 10, 2019|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/hong-kong-protesters-call-on-trump-to-liberate-hong-kong/2019/09/08/4123008c-d215-11e9-9610-fb56c5522e1c_story.html|title=Hong Kong protesters sing 'Star-Spangled Banner,' call on Trump to 'liberate' the city|first1=Timothy|last1=McLaughlin|first2=Casey|last2=Quackenbush|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=December 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203162815/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/hong-kong-protesters-call-on-trump-to-liberate-hong-kong/2019/09/08/4123008c-d215-11e9-9610-fb56c5522e1c_story.html|archive-date=December 3, 2019|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/thousands-rally-in-hong-kong-for-u-s-bill-supporting-citys-special-status-11571074463|title=Thousands Rally in Hong Kong for U.S. Bill Supporting City's Autonomy|first=Mike|last=Cherney|website=The Wall Street Journal|date=October 14, 2019|access-date=December 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104144640/https://www.wsj.com/articles/thousands-rally-in-hong-kong-for-u-s-bill-supporting-citys-special-status-11571074463|archive-date=November 4, 2019|url-status=live}}

=200th anniversary celebrations=

The 200th anniversary of the "Star-Spangled Banner" occurred in 2014 with various special events occurring throughout the United States. A particularly significant celebration occurred during the week of September 10–16 in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Highlights included playing of a new arrangement of the anthem arranged by John Williams and participation of President Barack Obama on Defenders Day, September 12, 2014, at Fort McHenry.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/francis-scott-keys-anthem-keeps-askinghave-we-survived-as-a-nation/2014/09/11/4061854c-39b3-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html|title=Francis Scott Key's anthem keeps asking: Have we survived as a nation?|author=Michael E. Ruane|date=September 11, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post}} In addition, the anthem bicentennial included a youth music celebration[https://www.anthembicentennial.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129030852/https://www.anthembicentennial.org/|date=November 29, 2014}} including the presentation of the National Anthem Bicentennial Youth Challenge winning composition written by Noah Altshuler.

=Adaptations=

{{see also|The Star Spangled Banner (Whitney Houston recording)}}

File:Oer the ramparts we watch.jpg poster by Jes Wilhelm Schlaikjer]]

The first popular music performance of the anthem heard by the mainstream U.S. was by Puerto Rican singer and guitarist José Feliciano. He created a nationwide uproar when he strummed a slow, blues-style rendition of the song{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19834/m1/ |title=Show 52 – The Soul Reformation: Phase three, soul music at the summit. [Part 8] |show=52 |track=5}} at Tiger Stadium in Detroit before game five of the 1968 World Series, between Detroit and St. Louis.{{cite web|author=Paul White, USA Today Sports |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon/2012/10/14/jose-feliciano-star-spangled-banner-giants-cardinals-nlcs-guitar/1633487/ |title=Jose Feliciano's once-controversial anthem kicks off NLCS |publisher=Usatoday.com |date=October 14, 2012 |access-date=November 9, 2013}} This rendition started contemporary "Star-Spangled Banner" controversies. The response from many in the Vietnam War-era U.S. was generally negative. Despite the controversy, Feliciano's performance opened the door for the countless interpretations of the "Star-Spangled Banner" heard in the years since.Jose Feliciano [http://josefeliciano.com/index.php?page=anthem Personal account about the anthem performance] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008220235/http://josefeliciano.com/index.php?page=anthem |date=October 8, 2015 }} One week after Feliciano's performance, the anthem was in the news again when U.S. athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos lifted controversial raised fists at the 1968 Olympics while the "Star-Spangled Banner" played at a medal ceremony.

Rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix often included a solo instrumental performance at concerts from 1968 to his death in 1970. Using high gain and distortion amplification effects and the vibrato arm on his guitar, Hendrix was able to simulate the sounds of rockets and bombs at the points when the lyrics are normally heard.{{cite book| last = Cross| first = Charles R.| author-link = Charles R. Cross| title = Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix| edition = 1st. Trade Paperback| location = New York City| publisher = Hyperion Books| year = 2005| isbn = 0-7868-8841-5| pages = 271–272}} One such performance at the Woodstock music festival in 1969 was a highlight of the event's 1970 documentary film, becoming "part of the sixties Zeitgeist". When asked about negative reactions to his "unorthodox" treatment of the anthem, Hendrix, who served briefly in the U.S. Army, responded "I'm American so I played it{{nbsp}}... Unorthodox? I thought it was beautiful, but there you go."{{cite book| last = Roby| first = Steven| year = 2012| title = Hendrix on Hendrix: Interviews and Encounters with Jimi Hendrix| location = Chicago| publisher = Chicago Review Press| isbn = 978-1-61374-322-5| pages = 221–222}} The Woodstock version by Jimi Hendrix was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2009.{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#s |title=Grammy Hall of Fame Awards |publisher=The Grammy Awards |access-date=January 30, 2024}}

Marvin Gaye gave a soul-influenced performance at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game and Whitney Houston gave a soulful rendition before Super Bowl XXV in 1991, which was released as a single that charted at number 20 in 1991 and number 6 in 2001 (along with José Feliciano, the only times the national anthem has been on the Billboard Hot 100).{{Cite web |last=Shackleford |first=Tom |date=2023-02-13 |title=Marvin Gaye Spices Up "The Star-Spangled Banner" At NBA All-Star Game, On This Day In 1983 [Watch] |url=https://liveforlivemusic.com/news/marvin-gaye-star-spangled-banner-on-this-day-1983/ |access-date=2023-09-26 |website=L4LM |language=en-US}} Roseanne Barr gave a controversial performance of the anthem at a San Diego Padres baseball game at Jack Murphy Stadium on July 25, 1990. The comedian belted out a screechy rendition of the song, and afterward, she mocked ballplayers by spitting and grabbing her crotch as if adjusting a protective cup. The performance offended some, including the sitting U.S. president, George H. W. Bush.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-28-me-537-story.html |title=Roseanne Is Sorry – but Not That Sorry |author=Letofsky, Irv |date=July 28, 1990 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=September 14, 2012}} Steven Tyler also caused some controversy in 2001 (at the Indianapolis 500, to which he later issued a public apology) and again in 2012 (at the AFC Championship Game) with a cappella renditions of the song with changed lyrics.{{cite web |url=http://www.spinner.com/2012/01/23/steven-tyler-national-anthem/ |title=AOL Radio – Listen to Free Online Radio – Free Internet Radio Stations and Music Playlists |publisher=Spinner.com |access-date=November 9, 2013 |archive-date=May 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525222913/http://www.spinner.com/2012/01/23/steven-tyler-national-anthem/ |url-status=dead }}

At Super Bowl XLVIII's pre-game ceremonies in 2014, soprano Renée Fleming became the first opera singer to perform the National Anthem at a football game, and her emotional, groundbreaking performance (one of the most critically acclaimed renditions of all time) led the Fox network to the highest ratings of any program in the company's history and remains so today. In 2016, Aretha Franklin performed a rendition before the nationally-televised Minnesota Vikings-Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day game lasting more than four minutes and featuring a host of improvisations. It was one of Franklin's last public appearances before her 2018 death.{{cite web|title=That time Aretha Franklin dazzled America on Thanksgiving with national anthem|url=http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/that-time-aretha-franklin-dazzled-america-on-thanksgiving-with-national-anthem|publisher=WJBK|access-date=August 13, 2018|date=August 13, 2018}} Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie gave a controversial performance of the anthem in 2018. Critics likened her rendition to a jazzy "sexed-up" version of the anthem, which was considered highly inappropriate, with her performance compared to that of Marilyn Monroe's 1962 performance of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President". Fergie later apologized for her performance of the song, stating that ''I'm a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn't strike the intended tone".{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-43125698|title=Fergie apologises for national anthem|date=February 20, 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=October 1, 2018|language=en-GB}}

In March 2005, a government-sponsored program, the National Anthem Project, was launched after a Harris Interactive poll showed many adults knew neither the lyrics nor the history of the anthem.{{cite web |url=http://www.tnap.org/factsheet.html |title=Harris Interactive poll on "The Star-Spangled Banner" |publisher=Tnap.org |access-date=June 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112200114/http://www.tnap.org/factsheet.html |archive-date=January 12, 2011 }}

Lyrics

File:2 Star Spangled Banner.png

"The Star-Spangled Banner" has four verses, although the second through fourth verses are not commonly performed.Francis Scott Key, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130126153519/http://www.thenationalanthemproject.org/lyrics.html The Star Spangled Banner]}} (lyrics), 1814, MENC: The National Association for Music Education National Anthem Project (archived from {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130126153519/http://www.thenationalanthemproject.org/lyrics.html the original]}} on 2013-01-26).

{{poemquote|

O 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, half conceals, half 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 washed out their foul footsteps' 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.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand,

⁠Between their loved home and the war's desolation,

Blessed with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n rescued land,

⁠Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

}}

Alternative lyrics

In a version hand-written by Francis Scott Key in 1840, the third line reads: "Whose bright stars and broad stripes, through the clouds of the fight".{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/uc05112x.jpg |title=Library of Congress image |website=Library of Congress |access-date=June 14, 2010}}

Fifth stanza

In 1861, poet Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. penned an unofficial fifth verse during the beginning of the American Civil War, looking hopefully at the emancipation of slaves.{{cite web|url=https://starspangledmusic.org/lyric/additional-verse-for-the-star-spangled-banner/|title=Additional verse for "The Star-Spangled Banner"|website=Star Spangled Music Foundation|date=July 5, 2022 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/07/04/518876922/the-star-spangled-banner-verse-youve-probably-never-heard|title=The Star-Spangled Banner Verse You've Probably Never Heard|date=July 4, 2017|work=npr.org}}

{{poemquote|

When our land is illumed with Liberty's smile,

If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,

Down, down with the traitor who dares to defile

The flag of her stars and the page of her story!

By the millions unchained when our birthright was gained,

We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained!

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

While the land of the free is the home of the brave!

}}

References in film, television, literature

Several films have their titles taken from the song's lyrics. These include the G.I. Joe episode Red Rocket's Glare; the Columbo episode By Dawn's Early Light; two films titled Dawn's Early Light (2000[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471144/ Dawn's Early Light (2000)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 14, 2007. and 2005);[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489465/ Dawn's Early Light (2005)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 14, 2007. two made-for-TV features titled By Dawn's Early Light (1990[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099197/ Dawn's Early Light TV (1990)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 14, 2007. and 2000);[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247232/ Dawn's Early Light TV (2000)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 14, 2007. two films titled So Proudly We Hail (1943[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036367/ So Proudly We Hail (1943)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 14, 2007. and 1990);[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100647/ So Proudly We Hail (1990)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 14, 2007. a feature film (1977)[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076845/ Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 14, 2007. and a short (2005)[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481428/ Twilight's Last Gleaming (2005)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 14, 2007. and a novel titled Twilight's Last Gleaming; Rocket's Red Glare;[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0219279/ Rocket's Red Glare] on the Internet Movie Database and four films titled Home of the Brave (1949,[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041481/ Home of the Brave (1949)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 5, 2007. 1986,[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091216/ Home of the Brave (1986)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 5, 2007. 2004,[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389009/ Home of the Brave (2004)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 5, 2007. and 2006).[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0763840/ Home of the Brave (2006)] on the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved September 14, 2007. A 1936 short titled The Song of a Nation from Warner Bros. Pictures shows a version of the origin of the song.{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0152523/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1 | title=The Song of a Nation | website=IMDb }} The title of Isaac Asimov's 1980 short story "No Refuge Could Save" is a reference to the song's third verse, and the obscurity of this verse is a major plot point.{{Cite web|date=2016-05-07|title=Tricks on How to Spot a Spy|url=https://sofrep.com/news/hey-are-you-a-spy/|access-date=2021-06-15|website=SOFREP|language=en}}

Customs and federal law

File:Star Spangled Banner Plaque.jpg, detailing the history and custom of standing during the U.S. national anthem]]

When the U.S. national anthem was first recognized by law in 1931, there was no prescription as to behavior during its playing. On June 22, 1942, the law was revised indicating that those in uniform should salute during its playing, while others should simply stand at attention, men removing their hats. The same code also required that women should place their hands over their hearts when the flag is displayed during the playing of the national anthem, but not if the flag was not present. On December 23, 1942, the law was again revised instructing men and women to stand at attention and face in the direction of the music when it was played. That revision also directed men and women to place their hands over their hearts only if the flag was displayed. Those in uniform were required to salute. On July 7, 1976, the law was simplified. Men and women were instructed to stand with their hands over their hearts, men removing their hats, irrespective of whether or not the flag was displayed and those in uniform saluting. On August 12, 1998, the law was rewritten keeping the same instructions, but differentiating between "those in uniform" and "members of the Armed Forces and veterans" who were both instructed to salute during the playing whether or not the flag was displayed. Because of the changes in law over the years and confusion between instructions for the Pledge of Allegiance versus the National Anthem, throughout most of the 20th century many people simply stood at attention or with their hands folded in front of them during the playing of the Anthem, and when reciting the Pledge they would hold their hand (or hat) over their heart.{{cite web|url=http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=56&page=380,36:171 |date=June 22, 1942 |title=Public Laws, June 22, 1942}}{{cite web|title=77th Congress, 2nd session|url=http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=56&page=1077|website=uscode.house.gov|access-date=October 21, 2017}}{{cite web|title=Public law, July 7, 1976|url=http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=90&page=812|website=uscode.house.gov|access-date=October 21, 2017}}

Since 1998, federal law (viz., the United States Code {{usc|36|301}}) states that during a rendition of the national anthem, when the flag is displayed, all present including those in uniform should stand at attention; non-military service individuals should face the flag with the right hand over the heart; members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present and not in uniform may render the military salute; military service persons not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold the headdress at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note. The law further provides that when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed. Military law requires all vehicles on the installation to stop when the song is played and all individuals outside to stand at attention and face the direction of the music and either salute, in uniform, or place the right hand over the heart, if out of uniform. The law was amended in 2008, and since allows military veterans to salute out of uniform, as well.{{cite web|author=Duane Streufert |url=http://www.usflag.org/uscode36.html#171 |title=A website dedicated to the Flag of the United States of America – United States Code |publisher=USFlag.org |access-date=June 14, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t33t36+1643+6++%28%29%20%20A |title=U.S. Code |publisher=Uscode.house.gov |access-date=June 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529113624/http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t33t36+1643+6++()%20%20A |archive-date=May 29, 2012 }}

The text of {{usc|36|301}} is suggestive and not regulatory in nature. Failure to follow the suggestions is not a violation of the law. This behavioral requirement for the national anthem is subject to the same First Amendment controversies that surround the Pledge of Allegiance.The Circle School v. Phillips, 270 F. Supp. 2d 616, 622 (E.D. Pa. 2003). For example, Jehovah's Witnesses do not sing the national anthem, though they are taught that standing is an "ethical decision" that individual believers must make based on their conscience.{{cite web|url=http://www.towerwatch.com/Witnesses/Beliefs/their_beliefs.htm|title=Highlights of the Beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses|publisher=Towerwatch.com|access-date=June 14, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918233431/http://www.towerwatch.com/Witnesses/Beliefs/their_beliefs.htm|archive-date=September 18, 2009|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|title=Fundamental freedoms and Jehovah's Witnesses|year=1993|first=Gary Norman Arthur |last=Botting|author-link=Gary Botting|publisher=University of Calgary Press|isbn=978-1-895176-06-3|access-date=December 13, 2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QGSFAAAAMAAJ&q=national+anthem+jehovah%27s+witness|page=27}}{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses|year=2008|first=George D. |last=Chryssides |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-6074-2 |access-date=January 24, 2014 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xx6nUwZzeCsC&q=jehovah%27s+witnesses+stand+national+anthem&pg=PA34|page=34}}

Translations

As a result of immigration to the United States by many non-English-speaking peoples, the lyrics of America's national anthem have seen multiple literary translations into immigrant languages. In 1861, very likely to help encourage German-American military service in the Union Army and the United States Navy during the American Civil War, the lyrics were translated into the German language in the United States and widely circulated.[https://loc.getarchive.net/media/das-star-spangled-banner-h-de-marsan-publisher-no-54-chatham-street-new-york-1 Das Star-Spangled Banner], US Library of Congress. Retrieved October 8, 2024. The Library of Congress also has record of a Spanish-language version from 1919.[http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.100000007/default.html La Bandera de las Estrellas], US Library of Congress. Retrieved May 31, 2005. It has since been translated into HebrewHebrew Version{{Circular reference|date=January 2025}} and Yiddish by Jewish immigrants,Abraham Asen, [http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/fishstein/images/12_07%20Star%20Spangled%20Banner.jpg The Star Spangled Banner] in pool, 1745, Joe Fishstein Collection of Yiddish Poetry, McGill University Digital Collections Programme. Retrieved September 14, 2007. Latin American Spanish (with one version popularized during immigration reform protests in 2006),{{cite news|author=Day to Day |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5369145 |title=A Spanish Version of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' |newspaper = NPR.org|publisher=NPR |access-date=June 14, 2010}} Louisiana French by the Cajun people,David Émile Marcantel, [http://www.musiqueacadienne.com/banniere.htm La Bannière Étoilée] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517004403/http://www.musiqueacadienne.com/banniere.htm |date=May 17, 2013 }} on Musique Acadienne. Retrieved September 14, 2007. Irish,{{cite web |url=http://www.daltai.com/padraig/USA.htm |title=An Bhratach Gheal-Réaltach – Irish version |publisher=Daltai.com |access-date=June 14, 2010 |archive-date=December 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210194008/http://www.daltai.com/padraig/USA.htm |url-status=dead }}[https://www.dib.ie/biography/ogrowney-eugene-o-gramhnaigh-eoghan-a6774 O'Growney, Eugene (Ó Gramhnaigh, Eoghan)], Dictionary of Irish Biography and Scottish Gaelic.Michael Newton (2001), We're Indians Sure Enough: The Legacy of the Scottish Highlanders in the United States, Saorsa Media. Page 214.Donald Ferguson (1977), Fad air falbh às Innse Gall, Lawson Graphics Atlantic Limited. Halifax, Nova Scotia. p. 321. The third verse of the anthem has also been translated into Latin.Christopher M. Brunelle, [http://ingeb.org/songs/thestars.html Third Verse in Latin], 1999

With regard to the indigenous languages of North America and U.S. possessions in Polynesia, there are further translations into Navajo{{cite web|url=http://www.gallupindependent.com/2005/mar/032505navajo.html |title=Gallup Independent, 25 March 2005 |publisher=Gallupindependent.com |date=March 25, 2005 |access-date=June 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203072802/http://www.gallupindependent.com/2005/mar/032505navajo.html |archive-date= February 3, 2010 }}[http://www.dvs.state.nm.us/jul31NavajoCodeTalkerMuseum.html] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web |url=http://www.navajo.org/navbar/Dinner.htm |title=Schedule for the Presidential Inauguration 2007, Navajo Nation Government |publisher=Navajo.org |date=January 9, 2007 |access-date=June 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20081202063048/http://www.navajo.org/navbar/Dinner.htm |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |url-status=dead }} Cherokee,{{cite web |url=http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/235/Article.aspx |title=Cherokee Phoenix, Accessed 2009-08-15 |publisher=Cherokeephoenix.org |access-date=June 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908234325/http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/235/Article.aspx |archive-date=September 8, 2009 }} and Samoan.{{cite web|last=Zimmer |first=Benjamin |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003082.html |title=The Samoa News reporting of a Samoan version |publisher=Itre.cis.upenn.edu |date=April 29, 2006 |access-date=June 14, 2010}}

Protests

=1968 Olympics Black Power salute=

The 1968 Olympics Black Power salute was a political demonstration conducted by African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City. After having won gold and bronze medals respectively in the 200-meter running event, they turned on the podium to face their flags, and to hear the American national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner". Each athlete raised a black-gloved fist, and kept them raised until the anthem had finished. In addition, Smith, Carlos, and Australian silver medalist Peter Norman all wore human rights badges on their jackets. In his autobiography, Silent Gesture, Smith stated that the gesture was not a "Black Power" salute, but a "human rights salute". The event is regarded as one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympic Games.{{cite news |url=https://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2094-2393575,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070311090713/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2094-2393575,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 11, 2007 |work=The Sunday Times |location=London |last=Lewis |first=Richard |date=October 8, 2006 |title=Caught in Time: Black Power salute, Mexico, 1968 |access-date=November 9, 2008 }}

=Protests against racism and police brutality (2016–present)=

File:Statue marked with spray paint graffiti and splashed red paint, Francis Scott Key Monument (1911, Marius Jean Antonin Mercié), W. Lafayette Avenue and Eutaw Place, Baltimore, MD 21217 (37035175462).jpg in Baltimore when the statue was covered in red paint and the words "Racist Anthem" in 2017{{cite news |title=Century-old Francis Scott Key monument defaced with 'racist anthem' in Baltimore |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/century-old-francis-scott-key-monument-defaced-with-racist-anthem-in-baltimore |access-date=April 8, 2022 |work=Washington Examiner}}]]

Protests against police brutality and racism by kneeling on one knee during the national anthem began in the National Football League after San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt during the anthem, as opposed to the tradition of standing, in response to police brutality in the United States, before his team's third preseason game of 2016. Kaepernick sat during the first two preseason games, but he went unnoticed.{{cite web|last1=Sandritter|first1=Mark|title=A timeline of Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protest and the NFL players who joined him|url=https://www.sbnation.com/2016/9/11/12869726/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest-seahawks-brandon-marshall-nfl|publisher=SB Nation|access-date=September 20, 2016|date=September 11, 2016}} In particular, protests focus on the discussion of slavery (and mercenaries) in the third verse of the anthem, in which some have interpreted the lyrics as condemning slaves that had joined the British in an effort to earn their freedom.{{cite news |last1=Woolf |first1=Christopher |title=Historians disagree on whether 'The Star-Spangled Banner' is racist |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-08-30/historians-disagree-whether-star-spangled-banner-racist |access-date=August 1, 2020 |publisher=The World |date=August 30, 2016}} Since Kaepernick's protest, other athletes have joined in the protests. In the 2017 season, after President Donald Trump's condemnation of the kneeling, which included calling for players (whom he reportedly also referred to by various profanities) to be fired, many NFL players responded by protesting during the national anthem that week.{{cite news |title=Donald Trump blasts NFL anthem protesters: 'Get that son of a bitch off the field' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/22/donald-trump-nfl-national-anthem-protests |access-date=April 8, 2022 |work=The Guardian}}

After the police-involved killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, when the 2019-2020 NBA season resumed play in July 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of players and coaches kneeled during the national anthem through the end of the season. In San Francisco, the statue of Francis Scott Key—the nation's first memorial to the anthem's lyricist Key, a slaveowner—was toppled by protestors on June 19, 2020 and in June 2021 was replaced by 350 black steel sculptures that honor the first 350 Africans kidnapped and forced onto a slave ship headed across the Atlantic from Angola in 1619.{{cite news

|title='Reckoning' with slavery: toppled Francis Scott Key statue replaced by African figures|first=Barbara|last=Goldberg|date=June 11, 2021|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/reckoning-with-slavery-toppled-francis-scott-key-statue-replaced-by-african-2021-06-11/|work=Reuters}}

=California chapter of the NAACP call to remove the national anthem=

In November 2017, the California Chapter of the NAACP called on Congress to remove "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem. Alice Huffman, California NAACP president, said: "It's racist; it doesn't represent our community, it's anti-black."{{Cite news |url= https://www.cbsnews.com/news/national-anthem-lyrics-california-naacp-star-spangled-banner |title= National anthem lyrics prompt California NAACP to call for replacing song |access-date= November 8, 2017 }} The rarely-sung third stanza of the anthem contains the words "No refuge could save the hireling and slave, from the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave", which some interpret as racist. The organization was still seeking a representative to sponsor the legislation in Congress at the time of its announcement.

=2025 Canada protests=

Following Donald Trump's tariff announcements on Canada and Mexico as well as his pro-annexation rhetoric in 2025, Canadian crowds booed "The Star-Spangled Banner" when it was played at National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer games or sporting events featuring the U.S. across Canada.{{cite news |last1=Yousif |first1=Nadine |date=February 2, 2025 |title=Canadian fans boo US anthem as tariffs spur 'buy local' pledge |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3348gk8my0o |access-date=February 2, 2025 |work=BBC News |language=en}}

Media

{{listen|type=music

| filename = MargaretWoodrowWilson-TheStarSpangledBanner.ogg

| title = The Star-Spangled Banner (1915)|length=hide

| description = 1915 recording of the Star-Spangled Banner as sung by Margaret Woodrow Wilson, daughter of Woodrow Wilson

| filename2 = Star-spangled banner.ogg

| title2 = The Star-Spangled Banner (1942)|length2=hide

| description2 = Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians sing The Star-Spangled Banner in 1942

| filename3 = Star-spangled_banner_002.ogg

| title3 = The Star-Spangled Banner (1953)|length3=hide

| description3 = 1953 instrumental recording by the United States Marine Corps band

| filename4 = Star Spangled Banner instrumental.ogg

| title4 = The Star Spangled Banner (circa 2000)|length4=hide

| description4 = Instrumental recording by the United States Navy Band

}}

File:StarSpan1940.ogg

File:Movieton1944.ogv

File:Lady Gaga performs "The Star-Spangled Banner".webm performs "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden in January 2021]]

References

External links

[https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/subject-american-flags-nmahphc/a22n4m222Y41LyjG American Flags collection] at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiG--jJz8tI "New book reveals the dark history behind the Star Spangled Banner"], CBS This Morning, September 13, 2014 (via YouTube).
[https://web.archive.org/web/20170428230811/https://www.biography.com/news/francis-scott-key-star-spangled-banner-facts "Star-Spangled History: 5 Facts About the Making of the National Anthem"], Biography.com.
[https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-ae-key-legacy-20140726-story.html {{"'}}Star-Spangled Banner' writer had a complex record on race"], Mary Carole McCauley, The Baltimore Sun, July 26, 2014.
"[https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/07/04/francis-scott-key-star-spangled-banner The Man Behind the National Anthem Paid Little Attention to It]". NPR's Here and Now, July 4, 2017.
[http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tr11a.html#obj75 Star-Spangled Banner (Memory)]—American Treasures of the Library of Congress exhibition
[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/arts/music/the-star-spangled-banner-has-changed-a-lot-in-200-years.html "How the National Anthem Has Unfurled; 'The Star-Spangled Banner' Has Changed a Lot in 200 Years"] by William Robin. June 27, 2014, The New York Times, p. AR10.
[http://www.c-span.org/video/?319838-1/starspangled-banner/ TV tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History Star-Spangled Banner exhibit]—C-SPAN, American History, May 15, 2014
[https://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/mp3/song.ssb.dsl.mp3 19th century version (MP3)] of the Star-Spangled Banner was performed on original instruments from the National Museum of American History's collection. Arranged by G. W. E. Friederich, the music is played as it would have been heard in 1854.