While many of us might assume the "The Star-Spangled Banner" has been our national anthem for centuries, the fact is the United States had no national anthem until 1931-which is, historically speaking, rather recently. During the first 155 years of U.S. history, three other songs-"Hail, Columbia," "My Country, ‘Tis of Thee," and "America the Beautiful"-each served, at different times, as our de facto national anthem. But it was not until President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931, that "The Star-Spangled Banner" was officially given that honor.

The story behind "The Star-Spangled Banner" is as moving as the anthem itself.
During the War of 1812, Attorney Francis Scott Key was serving the Georgetown Light Field Artillery. In 1814, he was called to use his skills as a lawyer to negotiate the release of an American held prisoner by the British navy.

Early in September, Key traveled to Baltimore in the company of Colonel John Skinner to negotiate with British naval officials aboard a British ship. Learning, while there, that the British were about to attack Baltimore, both men were detained as prisoners.
When British forces fired on Baltimore, U.S. military forces stationed at Fort McHenry sprang to the city's defense. The British responded by turning their attention from the city and unleashing their full fury upon the fort.

As the 190-pound shells began to shake the fort, mother nature brought a storm of her own. Thunder and rain pelted the shore along with the bombs. Throughout the long fearful night of September 13, 1814, families in nearby homes heard and felt the bomb blasts. From as far away as Philadelphia came reports of the explosions being felt. From the ship on which he was being held, Key spent the night anxiously watching bombs bursting over the water and steadily pummeling Fort McHenry.  

For 25 hours, the star-shaped fort, manned by approximately 1,000 American soldiers, endured over 1,500 cannon shots. Early in the morning, after U.S. troops stopped the British landing party in a blaze of gunfire, an oversized American flag was raised in all its glory over Fort McHenry.

In the morning's sudden silence, Key waited for dawn to break and smoke to clear. Seeing his country's flag fully against the rising sun, unfurled over the fort still standing firm, Key was so moved that he immediately began penning a poem. Originally entitled "Defense of Fort McHenry," the words were later set to a popular British melody and published as a song, re-entitled "The Star-Spangled Banner." The song became popular during the Mexican-American War in the 1840s, but 80 more years passed before it was adopted as our national anthem.  

In 1956, a law signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower designated a phrase from the song's fourth verse-

"In God we trust"-as the modern motto of the United States.