Stations of the Flag: Fracis Scott Key and "The Star Spangled Banner"


 Stations of the Flag

Francis Scott Key

and

The Star Spangled Banner


On September 14, 1814 lawyer Francis Scott Key was trapped on the British ship HMS Tonnant where he was negotiating the release of a friend being held by the British.  Through the night he witnessed the British bombardment of Baltimore's Fort McHenry.  Observing that "the flag was still there" when the battle was over, Key composed the lyrics of "The Star Spangled Banner" which was set to the music of the British "The Anacreontic Song."  In 1931 "The Star Spangled Banner" was officially adopted as our national anthem.

The flag that Key saw had 15 stars and 15 stripes, two additional stars and stripes were added following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union. 


 In my post card collection is this image of the Fort McHenry flag at the Smithsonian long before its 1999-2008 restoration.

It is well documented that the flag was made by Baltimore seamstress Mary Young Pickersgill, shown in a post card from my collection with a paintin byR. McGill Mackall.


 



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