The Star Spangled Banner
By John A. Miller
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/holidays/july4/stars.htm
Throughout the year, visitors to Washington, DC, pause to view the flag which
inspired the U.S. national anthem. The 185-year-old flag, the Star Spangled
Banner, is massive (9.75 x 10.4 meters). Its 15 white cotton 5-pointed stars
are on a blue field of English wool bunting, with 15 stripes, eight red and
seven white, of wool bunting. The linen backing is more than half its weight
of about 68 kilos.
Unlike today's flag, the flag of the early 19th century had one stripe as well
as one star for each state currently in the Union. This handsewn flag was made
in the summer of 1813, 36 years after the Stars and Stripes pattern was adopted
as the U.S. national flag.
With the War of 1812 still raging against the British and after they had burned
the U.S. Capitol and White House in Washington, this flag flew over Fort McHenry
in Baltimore on the night of September 13, 1814, as British ships began bombarding
the fort. On a British truce ship out in the harbor, Francis Scott Key, a young
American lawyer who was negotiating the release of a prisoner, watched anxiously
as the bombardment continued into the night. He was so relieved to see the flag
still flying in the morning that he wrote a poem of the occasion, "The
Star-Spangled Banner." He ironically set it to the tune of a popular English
song to commemorate the American victory. Key's poem was adopted as the National
Anthem in 1931.
The flag itself was given to the commander of Ft. McHenry, and his family donated
the flag to the Smithsonian Institution in 1907, when it was subsequently placed
on public display. Beginning in 1964, the Smithsonian's new National Museum
of American History prominently displayed the flag in its specially designed
site at the main entrance on the National Mall.
The Star-Spangled Banner flag has been faded by weather and age, and damaged
during its long-time display by the influences of light, pollution and humidity.
As a national treasure, the flag was included in the White House millenium plans
for the preservation of America's treasures.
The flag was removed from display in October 1998 and laid flat for analysis
to determine the best conservation treatment. The public has been able to observe
the work through windows in the conservation lab. After approximately three
years, the museum intends to re-exhibit the banner in an environmentally controlled
glass case. The preservation
project can be followed at http://web8.si.edu/nmah/htdocs/ssb-old/7_preserving/fs7.html.
Date/Time Last Modified: 7/2/2003 6:38:09 AM
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