The Star-Spangled Banner

"The Star-Spangled Banner"

The earliest surviving sheet music of "The Star-Spangled Banner" from 1814
National anthem of the United States
Lyrics	Francis Scott Key, 1814
Music	John Stafford Smith, c. 1773
Adopted	March 3, 1931 (1931-03-03)[1]
Preceded by	”Hail, Columbia” (de facto) ”My Country, 'Tis of Thee” (de facto)
Audio sample
"The Star-Spangled Banner" (instrumental version by United States Navy Band) file help

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry",^[2] 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 tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a social club in London. Smiths' 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.

"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 (46 Stat. 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 36 U.S.C. § 301(a). It has become controversial in the United States since the 1990's due to perceived racism in the anthem's lyrics and Key's involvement in slavery.