What song did the United States officially adopt as its national anthem in 1931?

The United States officially adopted “The Star-Spangled Banner” as its national anthem in 1931.

President Herbert Hoover signed the adoption bill on March 4, 1931. The song uses the words of a poem written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 after he witnessed the American defense of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore. Its melody came from the British song “To Anacreon in Heaven.”

The anthem had been used ceremonially for years before Congress made it official. “Hail, Columbia” and “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” had also served as important patriotic or official songs. The 1931 law designated the composition’s words and music as the national anthem.

The anthem officially contains four stanzas, although public performances usually sing only the first. The enormous flag seen by Key inspired the poem’s title and is now preserved by the Smithsonian Institution. The song’s official adoption therefore came more than a century after the event that inspired its lyrics.