Some facts and history about Old Glory

SunTdoadyawyais Flag Day, commemorating Congress’ adoption of the red-white-and-blue flag with 13 stars June 14, 1777. President Harry S. Truman designated the day as National Flag Day in 1949.

Beginning Baltimore

Mary Pickersgill made two flags for Fort McHenry: a huge garrison flag and a smaller storm flag. The largest flag was so big she assembled it on the floor of a Baltimore brewery. The flag was sewed by hand with linen stitching.

The perilous fight

The English and French were at war since the early 1800s in Europe. The U.S. was brought into the war when the British refused to stop kidnapping U.S. sailors and forcing them into the British navy. The U.S. declared war on Great Britain in 1812. The British had captured and burned Washington, D.C., then sailed toward Baltimore.

The Battle of Baltimore saw the British bombard Fort McHenry for 25 hours beginning on Sept. 13, 1814. Estimates have 1,500 to 1,800 bombs being fired. Four hundred of them fell within the fort’s walls. The U.S. Army had held and stopped the British advance. There were 24 U.S. soldiers wounded and four dead.

Inspiring the poet

Francis Scott Key was a Baltimore lawyer and aboard a truce ship trying to negotiate the release of an American-held prisoner. The British detained him during the battle. The next morning, when he saw the U.S. flag still flying, he was inspired to write his poem, “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Familiar tune

Francis Scott Key intended his poem to be sung to the tune “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Key wrote a poem in 1805 to the same tune. The music originally was written in England around 1775 and played in pubs and clubs. The original song was about a sixth-century Greek poet named Anacreon who wrote about drinking and womanizing. Before “The Star-Spangled Banner” was adopted as the national anthem in 1931, “Yankee Doodle Dandy” was used as a traditional ceremonial song sometimes.

Meaningful colors

There is no congressional documentation that states the colors of the flag have official meaning, but historians trace each color to have symbolic representation.

Oh, say can you see Here’s how our national anthem was inspired by the flag flying at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Through the perilous fight? The Star-Spangled Banner (pictured at right) that inspired Francis Scott Key to write what became our national anthem may not have flown through the night. Experts say the massive, 30-by-42-foot flag was taken down when it rained because the soaked woolen banner would be too heavy for the flagpole to hold. During the battle and stormy night, a 17-by-25-foot flag flew in its place. The larger flag was raised after the storm passed in the morning. The Star-Spangled Banner is kept at the Smithsonian Institution.

Sources: NASA, Nixon Presidential Library & Museum, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Boyhood Home, Smithsonian, National Museum of the Marine Corps

But during times of war, some flagmakers rested the canton on a red stripe. This was called the “war” or “blood” stripe like the flag flown in the War of 1812.

Most flags have the blue field, or canton, resting on a white stripe. This had been a custom among flagmakers long before laws regulated it.

The Star-Spangled Banner on display at its permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution.

The original garrison flag covers about one-quarter of a basketball court.