Francis Scott Key was an lawyer in Washington D.C. at the time of the War of 1812. He received permission from President James Madison to ask the British to release his friend, Dr. William Beanes, who had been taken prisoner. On September 13, 1814, Key was rowed out to a British ship in Baltimore Harbor to secure the release. The request was granted, but Key was detained on-board overnight as a precaution against his warning the garrison of Fort McHenry of the attack the British were about to make.
During the night, Key witnessed the attack from the deck of the British ship. The hours passed slowly as he anxiously waited for dawn. When the sun finally rose, the sky was gray with low-hung clouds and patches of mist. But as the day grew brighter, Key was able to make out the enormous American Flag still flying over the fort, showing that it had not surrendered. Key's exhilaration at the sight began to take poetic shape; using the back of a letter he pulled from his pocket, he jotted down a few lines and phrases.
When the British withdrew and the Americans had returned to Baltimore, Key added to his lines and entitled the poem "The Defense of Fort McHenry". Shortly afterward he conceived of it being sung to a popular tune of the period, called "To Anacreon From Heaven"; this was the tune we know today as "The Star Spangled Banner".
The song immediately caught on in Baltimore; the Fort McHenry garrison adopted it, and the local newspapers published it. As rest of the nation began to realize the significance of the events at Fort McHenry, people in other cities began putting Francis Scott Key's words to the tune.
Contenders for the status of national anthem included such rivals as "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean". "The Star Spangled Banner" eventually prevailed and was made the official national anthem of the United States by an Act of Congress in 1931.
In 1813, the flag in which the Star Spangled Banner was inspired by (the flag is also known by the same name) was made by a Baltimore flag maker (Mary Pickersgill and her 13 year old daughter, Caroline) by commission of Lt. Col. George Armistead -- the commander of Fort McHenry. This cost the military $405.90. The flag was made of wool and originally measured 30 by 42 feet. Each stripe was nearly two feet wide, and the five-pointed stars were two feet from point to point. It is believed that Armistead took the flag home after the battle that Key witnessed. It stayed within the family until it was made a permanent gift to the Smithsonian Institution, of Washington DC, in 1912. Tattered and marred by relic-seekers, it is now preserved at the Smithsonian Museum of History and Technology in Washington, D.C.