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 During
the night of September 13, 1814, the British fleet bombarded Fort McHenry in the
harbor at Baltimore, Maryland. Francis Scott Key, a 34-year old lawyer-poet,
watched the attack from the deck of a British prisoner-exchange ship. He had
gone to seek the release of a friend but they were refused permission to go
ashore until after the attack had been made. As the battle ceased on the
following morning, Key turned his telescope to the fort and saw that the
American flag was still waving. The sight so inspired him that he pulled a
letter from his pocket and began to write the poem which eventually was adopted
as the national anthem of the United States--"The Star Spangled Banner." Key was
returned to Baltimore and later that day took a room at a Baltimore tavern where
he completed the poem.
In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote new words for a well-known drinking song,
"To Anacreon in Heaven," to celebrate America's recent victory over the British.
However, only in 1931, following a twenty-year effort during which more than
forty bills and joint resolutions were introduced in Congress, was a law finally
signed proclaiming "The Star Spangled Banner" to be the national anthem of the
United States.
Years later, Key told a hometown audience in Frederick,
Maryland:
 "I
saw the flag of my country waving over a city-the strength and pride of my
native State-a city devoted to plunder and desolation by its assailants. I
witnessed the preparation for its assaults. I saw the array of its enemies as
they advanced to the attack. I heard the sound of battle; the noise of the
conflict fell upon my listening ear, and told me that 'the brave and the free'
had met the invaders."
The study of the history and symbolism of flags is known
as VEXILLOLOGY from the Latin word, VEXILLUM which means a square flag or
banner.
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