Like so many famous songs of yore, "The Star-Spangled Banner" started as a poem, called “The Defence of Fort McHenry.” It was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 during the War of 1812.

George Armistead to make a flag for Fort McHenry. This flag, which measured 30 feet by 42 feet, was the original Star-Spangled Banner that inspired the lines of Francis Scott Key’s renowned poem ...

“The Star-Spangled Banner” was composed by Francis Scott Key, a Maryland attorney, slaveholder and poet, who was inspired by watching soldiers raise the flag over Baltimore’s Fort McHenry ...

The Star Spangled Banner is part of a poem about a battle ... the British sent a downpour of shells and rockets on Fort McHenry for 25 hours in September 1814. Francis Scott Key was in Baltimore ...