The United States officially adopted “The Star-Spangled Banner” as its national anthem in 1931. Congress approved the designation, ending decades in which the country had no single statutory national anthem.
The song’s words originated in Francis Scott Key’s poem “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” written after he witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Key saw the large American flag flying over the fort after the battle and used that sight as the poem’s central image.
The melody was not newly composed for the poem. It came from “To Anacreon in Heaven,” an earlier English club song attributed to John Stafford Smith. Key’s poem was soon fitted to that tune, and the combination became increasingly popular during the nineteenth century.
Before 1931, “Hail, Columbia” and “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” were often treated as de facto national songs. The 1931 law established one official anthem, although only the first verse is commonly performed today.