When did the United States adopt “The Star-Spangled Banner” as its national anthem?

The United States adopted “The Star-Spangled Banner” as its national anthem on March 3, 1931. President Herbert Hoover signed the legislation that formally gave the song its official national status.

The lyrics 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 still flying above the fort on September 14, 1814, and began composing verses inspired by the sight.

The melody was adapted from “The Anacreontic Song,” an English club song associated with composer John Stafford Smith. The anthem had been widely performed for decades before Congress made it official. It contains four stanzas, but public performances ordinarily use only the first. The original flag that inspired Key had fifteen stars and fifteen stripes and is preserved at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.