Page Title: The Star Spangled Banner
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The Star Spangled Banner flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland while it was being bombed by a British Fleet during the War of 1812. It is the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words which would become our beloved national anthem. The flag, the anthem and the historical event they describe tell the story of Americans sticking together under siege. The original flag is clearly an American treasure and one the most important historic relics of the American people. It is housed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. In a sense, we Americans, The flag and The Anthem are all English. The original flag is made of English wool. The Anthem is set to an English tune. In declaring their independence from dear old Mother England, our founders were not inventing liberty. They were defending their centuries old English liberty and civil rights which were their birth rights as free Englishmen. |
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Look at this utterly beautiful heavy cotton Star Spangled Banner flag with heavy canvas heading and brass grommets Cotton Star Spangled Banner Flag 3x5' $59.00 #H63CS The cotton Star Spangled Banner comes only in 3x5'
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 Four rows of stitching in the fly end Cotton flags are heavy. If you are putting them in a front porch type setting, you should probably have a 1" pole, not the common 3/4". |
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 Heavy appliquéd stars
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 Traditional subdued warm cotton colors |
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Nylon Star Spangled
Banner Flags: Nylon flags will fly better than heavy cotton and are
generally considered a longer lasting outdoor fabric. They have brighter
more modern looking colors. Their lighter weight also puts less stress on
your hardware.
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Star Spangled Banner With Chevron
#H146 $49.00 3x5' Dyed Nylon finished with
heading and grommets
The Prominent red chevron The garrison at Ft. McHenry was under the
command of
"Historians have suggested it might have been a monogram—in the form of the letter "A" from which the cross-bar has been dropped or was never pieced in, placed there to signify the Armisteads' strong sense of ownership." This "A" was reportedly sewn on to the flag by Louisa Armistead the widow of Maj. Armistead. Was it the initial work on a project that would add the name Armistead to the flag? Is it a stylized or unfinished "A"? The answer is lost to history. The mysterious red chevron is an intriguing addition to the Star Spangled Banner in its final form. The chevron seems to be a tribute to one of the flag's original defenders. It is certainly part the flag's journey through time and through history. The red chevron is worthy of inclusion in this special historical reproduction. We've also captured the imperfect, less than uniform stars. Many of you who follow my web site know that I often act on your suggestions for interesting historic flags that deserve to fly again. This Star Spangled Banner with the red chevron is another result of just such a request.
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Al's Favorite Star Spangled Banner Performances I make it a kind of hobby to collect them. And I keep adding to them as I surf the internet. The Star Spangled Banner is my favorite song and I find it thrilling to notice how many different ways there are to perform it. They are all beautiful. There are as many ways to express The Star Spangled Banner as there are Americans. Here are some of my favorites. Always remember that the lyrics of The Star Spangled Banner tell the story of Americans sticking together under siege while under bombardment by a superior force on their home soil . Cher Cher once quipped that she was kind of proud of what an entertainment reporter had written about her. He wrote that if there were ever a nuclear holocaust, there would only be two things to survive: cockroaches and Cher. You have to love her and her staying power; Her career has spanned four decades. This is another of the big outdoor sporting event genre with jet flyover. Horowitz Another cool genre- simple piano versions of the Star Spangled Banner. But this is also a cool historic moment. It is a White House East Room performance for Jimmy Carter. LeAnn Rimes A real class act- both the person and the performance. This is a giant sporting event venue - a Superbowl- but not of what I call the "Star Spangled Banner Big Outdoor Genre". There is no orchestra, no music, very little production. Just a beautiful singer alone on a stage in front of 80,000 people singing acapella the whole way through. Singers can't always hold their control and maintain their tone in that kind of setting away from the studio. She does beautifully. I always appreciate also when they don't milk the song's climaxing high note too much- "land of the freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" and hold it forever just to prove to you that they can. She nails it just right. Throw in her very cool sleek, simple, neat casually classy dress and you have here an elegant performance of understated beauty. It is one of my favorites. What grace. LeAnn Rimes: For good measure here she is singing America The Beautiful 7 year old sings the anthem This little guy is great. What a fine job. He takes a few seconds to get going but he gets it right on track. Thank You Britain Breaking with tradition in the wake of 911, Her Majesty The Queen of England orders The Star Spangled Banner played during the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace. The Cactus Cuties Just try not loving these cool little kids from Texas singing the Star Spangled Banner live at a basket ball game. Ever see an entire stadium full of people get so quiet? These kids are real pros. Mormon Tabernacle Choir The video is filled with great images of American events and places The Veltz Family Just look what you can do sitting around your living room. There are as many ways of singing the Star Spangled Banner as there are types of American families. This is a very mellow, chic somewhat beatnik-hip cool kind of job. They're New Yorkers from Cold Spring, NY too. Local guys from right across the river. Ooorah! Jim in His Basement Another example of what you can create with not many resources. This is an electric guitar version that rocks. The kid plays it to a symphonic orchestra accompaniment and he is a very accomplished guitarist. Some may bemoan the rock guitar style as being inappropriate for The Star Spangled Banner. I think it is cool and, after all, can't you think of lots of worse things that Jim could be doing in his basement? Way to go kid, I love it. |
"Hey Al, Why are the stars crooked?" By the way, notice the peculiar star pattern. The stars are not arranged straight up and down. That is the famous "dancing star pattern" seen in the original Star Spangled Banner flown over Ft. McHenry. Back then the American flag's star pattern was not standardized and it appeared in many variations based on the whim of different flag makers. You can see the real Star Spangled Banner at The Star Spangled Banner Website Fom the Smithsonian Institution Web Site: "The Star-Spangled Banner was made under government contract in the summer of 1813 by a professional Baltimore flag maker, Mary Pickersgill. Assisted by her 13-year old daughter, Caroline, and by two of her nieces, Eliza and Margaret Young, Mary may also have received help from her mother, Rebecca Young, who was a flag maker 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 the union and cotton for the stars." The original Star Spangled Banner was 30x42' Lyrics Francis Scott Key's original poem that would later be set to the old English drinking song to become our National Anthem Complete version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" showing
spelling and punctuation from Francis Scott Key's manuscript in the
Maryland Historical Society collection. |
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