Star-Spangled Banner

This picture shows the Star-Spangled Banner, which is located in a special conservation room at the museum.

Star-Spangled Banner History

The history of the Star-Spangled Banner began on September 14, 1814, when Francis Scott Key peered through clearing smoke to see an enormous flag flying proudly after a 25-hour British bombardment of Baltimore's Fort McHenry.

Key was inspired to write a poem, which was later set to music, that became our national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".

The Star-Spangled Banner was made under government contract in the summer of 1813 by a professional Baltimore flagmaker, Mary Pickersgill. She was assisted by Caroline, her 13-year old daughter, and nieces Eliza and Margaret Young. Mary may also have received help from her mother, Rebecca Young, who was a flagmaker as well.

To assemble the unusually large flag, Pickersgill laid it out on the floor of a neighboring brewery. She used English woolen bunting for the stripes and cotton for the stars.

While Francis Scott Key's song - "The Star-Spangled Banner" - was known to most Americans by the end of the Civil War, the flag that inspired it remained a valued keepsake of the family of Lt. Col. Geroge Armistead, the commander of Fort McHenry. It was exhibited occasionally at patriotic gatherings in Baltimore, but was largely unknown outside of that city until the 1870s.

The flag remained the private property of the Lt. Colonel's relatives for 90 years. During that time, the increasing popularity of Key's anthem and the American public's developing sense of national heritage transformed The Star-Spangled Banner from a family keepsake into a national treasure.

In 1907 Eben Appleton, George Armistead's grandson, loaned The Star-Spangled Banner to the Smithsonian Institution. It was folded and displayed in a case in the National Museum's Hall of History. In 1912 Appleton converted the loan to a gift.

Since 1999 The Star-Spangled Banner has been undergoing examination and repair. You can visit the Conservation Laboratory at the National Museum of American History and see conservators at work.