Set to the tune of a familiar club song of the day, "To Anacreon in Heen," it proved to be very popular from the beginning and spread throughout the country in just a few weeks. Library of Congress, Music Division
By September 17 printed versions of the piece were being handed out to the men in the fort and among the citizens of Baltimore. Within weeks it was published with its new name, “The Star Spangled Banner,” in seventeen newspapers all over the east. A Mr. Harding is credited as the first to formally sing the new lyrics to the song on stage before a seated audience at the Holliday Street Theatre in Baltimore on October 19, 1814. Bands played the song regularly during the Civil War and the U.S. Ny made it an official part of its flag ceremonies in 1889. President Woodrow Wilson ordered it be played for military ceremonies during World War I. The popular “Ripley’s Believe or Not” cartoon series then pointed out that the United States had no national anthem. When famous composer John Philip Sousa published his opinion that Francis Scott Key’s “soul-stirring” lyrics should become the national anthem, it helped begin a campaign to make it so. President Herbert Hoover finally signed a law on March 3, 1931, making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official anthem of the United States. Since then, hardly a national sporting event has been played or an official ceremony opened without a rendition of the anthem. The original Star-Spangled Banner remained in Major Armistead’s family for ninety years. It was displayed in Baltimore on occasion and, as was the custom of the day, pieces were snipped off as gifts for friends and dignitaries. It was loaned, and later given, to the Smithsonian Institution after 1907 by Colonel Armistead’s grandson, Eben Appleton. On public display for much of the last century, the remains of the giant flag became dangerously fragile. It recently underwent a decade-long, multimillion-dollar restoration and is again on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in the nation’s capital. It is said to be among the most sought-after artifacts by visitors to the Smithsonian Institution.
excerpt from "In Full Glory Reflected: Discovering the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake" by Ralph E. Eshelman and Burton K. Kummerow