“God Save the King” was first publicly performed as Britain’s national anthem in 1745.
The earliest known public performance took place at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London on September 28, 1745. The performance occurred during the Jacobite rising, when support for King George II was politically significant. The song quickly gained popularity as a loyalist patriotic piece.
The authorship of both the words and music remains uncertain. Several claims have been made, but no single creator has been conclusively established. This uncertainty is why the anthem is usually identified by its historical performance and tradition rather than by a confirmed composer.
The title changes with the monarch’s sex. “God Save the King” is used when the sovereign is male, while “God Save the Queen” was used during the reigns of queens such as Victoria and Elizabeth II. The melody is also used by several other national or royal anthems, but Britain’s anthem has no single universally codified official statute.