Star-Spangled Banner chosen as national anthem
"The Star-Spangled Banner," a song written by Francis Scott Key, became the national anthem of the United States in 1931, reflecting its growing significance as a patriotic symbol alongside the American flag. Initially gaining prominence during the election of 1896 and becoming institutionalized during conflicts such as the Spanish-American War and World War I, the song was recognized as the official anthem of the Army and Navy in 1916. Despite ongoing legislative efforts to establish it as the national anthem during and after World War I, various concerns delayed its formal adoption. These concerns included perceptions of anti-British sentiments in its lyrics, its difficulty to sing, and competition from other songs like "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." The push for official recognition gained momentum in the late 1920s, particularly after media coverage highlighted the lack of a formal anthem. Ultimately, the acceptance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" was influenced by changing public sentiment and the media's role in shaping national identity, culminating in its designation as the national anthem during the Great Depression.
Star-Spangled Banner chosen as national anthem
Identification National anthem of the United States
Lyricist Francis Scott Key
Composer John Stafford Smith
Dates Composed in 1814; made official U.S. anthem on March 3, 1931
Combining the music of John Stafford Smith’s “To Anacreon in Heaven” and Francis Scott Key’s poem “Defence of Fort McHenry” (1814), this song became the official U.S. anthem under a law signed by Herbert Hoover in 1931. Although the song had become increasingly popular in the period since the Civil War, it took an organized outreach campaign through a popular comic strip to get enough grassroots support to ensure its selection by Congress for this distinctive honor.
Every verse of “The Star-Spangled Banner” focuses on the American flag, and as the flag grew in importance as a patriotic symbol, the song rose in status and prominence. Ritual rising for its playing was promoted by Republicans in the election of 1896 and became institutionalized during the Spanish American War and World War I. It became the official anthem of the Army and the Navy in 1916. Representatives of sixty-eight organizations participating in the National Flag Conference in 1923 unanimously recommended making it the national anthem. Legislation to do that was introduced regularly in Congress starting during World War I, but it never passed because of three main factors: concerns that certain lyrics seemed too anti-British, the complaint that the song was difficult to sing, and some New England advocates holding out in favor of “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” (1832).
Robert Ripley’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not comic strip was immensely popular throughout the 1930’s, and he created a media sensation when he alerted his readers in November, 1929, that the United States still had no official national anthem. By then, most Americans had come to accept the higher ceremonial deference paid to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and, spurred on by Ripley, over the next fifteen months, millions communicated their support for the song via petition and letter to Congress.
Impact
The selection of “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem in 1931 is best understood in the contexts of the evolving significance of the American flag as a patriotic symbol and the considerable influence of nationally syndicated newspaper columns during the 1930’s. It exhibited both the potency of the song and the power of the media to influence the public.
Bibliography
Leepson, Marc. Flag: An American Biography. New York: St. Martin’s, 2005.
Taylor, Lonn, Kathleen M. Kendrick, and Jeffrey L. Brodie. The Star-Spangled Banner: The Making of an American Icon. New York: Smithsonian, 2008.