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Citizenship test guide

The Star-Spangled Banner: history, lyrics, and what each phrase means

The national anthem is on the US citizenship civics test. Read all the words, choose any phrase to see what it means, hear famous performances, and learn the story of the night at Fort McHenry.

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The lyrics, phrase by phrase

Francis Scott Key wrote four stanzas in 1814. The first one is the one people usually sing. Choose a phrase to see what it means. The words are from 1814, so some look unusual today.

Stanza 1Usually sung

Choose a phrase above to see what it means.

Stanza 2

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Choose a phrase above to see what it means.

Stanza 3

That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion

A home and a Country should leave us no more?

Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Choose a phrase above to see what it means.

Stanza 4

Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!

Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Choose a phrase above to see what it means.

Words checked against the Smithsonian and the National Park Service. The words and the tune are in the public domain.

All the phrases explained

O say can you see
Francis Scott Key is asking a question: can you see the flag? He wrote the words after a night of fighting, when he did not know who had won.
by the dawn’s early light
The first light of morning on September 14, 1814. The British navy had fired on Fort McHenry in Baltimore all night.
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming
"Hail’d" means greeted. The night before, at sunset (twilight), Key had seen the flag flying proudly over the fort, and now he is asking about the same flag.
broad stripes and bright stars
The design of the flag: wide stripes and shining stars. The flag over Fort McHenry had 15 stripes and 15 stars.
perilous fight
"Perilous" means dangerous. The fight was the Battle of Baltimore, in the War of 1812.
ramparts
The walls of a fort. The flag was flying above the walls of Fort McHenry, and the people inside watched it through the battle.
the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air
British ships fired rockets and large shells at the fort. Their light let Key see the flag during the night.
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
As long as the flag flew, the fort had not surrendered. The flag was the proof.
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
The question comes again: is the flag still flying? In the next lines the answer is yes.
the land of the free and the home of the brave
A way to describe the United States. Many people use these words to name the country's ideals of freedom and courage.
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
In the early morning Key could see the shore only a little, through the mist over the water.
the foe’s haughty host
"Foe" means enemy and "haughty" means proud. The enemy was the British fleet, which waited in silence after the night of fighting.
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep
Key sees something moving in the wind above the high walls of the fort.
half conceals, half discloses
The wind lifts the flag and lets it fall, so Key sees it a little at a time. "Discloses" means shows.
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam
The sun rises and lights the flag, so Key can finally see it clearly.
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream
The flag shines in the sunlight, and its light is reflected in the water.
’Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave
Key has his answer. "’Tis" means "it is." He hopes the flag will fly for a long time.
that band who so vauntingly swore
"Band" means a group and "vauntingly" means boastfully. Key speaks of the British soldiers who had boasted that they would win.
the hireling and slave
Historians are not sure what Key meant. The National Park Service says he may have meant foreign soldiers paid to fight for Britain. The Library of Congress says "slave" may point to enslaved people who ran to the British for freedom, and notes that Key himself held enslaved people. Key never explained the line. Many singers do not sing the third stanza.
freemen
People who are free to govern themselves. Key hopes free people will stand up for their homes whenever war comes.
the heav’n rescued land
A land saved from danger, as Key believed, with help from heaven.
In God is our trust
Key wrote a motto for the country. The words are close to "In God We Trust," which Congress made the national motto in 1956.

The story of the anthem

  1. 1814

    The British navy attacked Fort McHenry, which guarded the harbor of Baltimore, on September 13 and 14, 1814, in the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer from Georgetown, watched from a ship. At dawn he saw the American flag still flying, and he wrote a poem. It was printed as a broadside, with the title "Defence of Fort M'Henry," and the directions said to sing it to a popular tune.

    National Park Service: the national anthem
  2. The tune

    The tune was "To Anacreon in Heaven," by the English composer John Stafford Smith. It was written for a London social club of music lovers. The first printing of the words and music together came out in Baltimore in 1814, and the song soon got its present name.

    Library of Congress: The Star-Spangled Banner, a guide to resources
  3. 1916 and 1931

    In 1916 President Wilson ordered the song played at all military ceremonies. After years of bills in Congress and a petition with five million names, President Hoover signed a law on March 3, 1931, that made The Star-Spangled Banner the national anthem.

    National Park Service: the national anthem
  4. Today

    Federal law says that when the anthem is played, people in uniform salute, and everyone else faces the flag and stands with the right hand over the heart.

    US Code, title 36, section 301: the national anthem

Sheet music

The first sheet music was printed in Baltimore in 1814. You can see the early printings at the Library of Congress.

Famous performances

Singers and musicians have made the anthem their own for more than 200 years. Recordings belong to their owners, so a video loads only when you press play, and it comes from the channel named under it.

Other songs about America

The Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem, but it is not the only song Americans sing about their country. These are some of the best known.

  • America the Beautiful

    Poem by Katharine Lee Bates, music by Samuel A. Ward

    Video: Ray Charles

    Watch on YouTube: Ray Charles, America the Beautiful

    Bates, a teacher, wrote the poem in 1893 after a trip up Pikes Peak in Colorado. Its words were later joined to a tune by Samuel A. Ward, an organist in Newark, New Jersey. Ray Charles recorded a famous version in 1972.

    Library of Congress: America the Beautiful

  • God Bless America

    Irving Berlin

    Video: Kate Smith, Legacy Recordings

    Watch on YouTube: God Bless America, Kate Smith

    Irving Berlin came to New York from the Russian Empire as a small child (see him on the immigration timeline). He wrote the song for an army show in 1918 and then put it aside. In 1938 he rewrote it for the singer Kate Smith, who sang it on the radio on November 11, 1938, the twentieth anniversary of the end of World War I.

    Library of Congress: God Bless America

  • My Country, ’Tis of Thee

    Words by Samuel Francis Smith, 1831

    Video: C-SPAN

    Watch on YouTube: Aretha Franklin sings at the 2009 inauguration (C-SPAN)

    Smith, a student at Andover Seminary, wrote these words in 1831 to a tune that was already used in several European songs, including the British "God Save the King." It was first sung in public on July 4, 1831, in Boston. Aretha Franklin sang it at the 2009 presidential inauguration.

    Library of Congress: My Country, ’Tis of Thee

  • This Land Is Your Land

    Woody Guthrie, 1940

    Video: Woody Guthrie, Smithsonian Folkways

    Watch on YouTube: This Land Is Your Land, Woody Guthrie

    Woody Guthrie wrote this folk song in 1940. It describes the country from California to New York. This is the recording from Smithsonian Folkways.

    Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

  • America

    Neil Diamond, 1980

    Video: Neil Diamond (VEVO)

    Watch on YouTube: America, Neil Diamond

    Neil Diamond sang this song in the 1980 film The Jazz Singer. Its words are about people arriving in America by boat and by plane, looking for a new life.

    Neil Diamond on YouTube (official audio)

  • Lift Every Voice and Sing

    James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson, 1900

    Video: Melba Moore, Capitol Records

    Watch on YouTube: Lift Every Voice and Sing, Melba Moore (1990)

    James Weldon Johnson wrote the words and his brother John Rosamond Johnson wrote the music. A choir of 500 schoolchildren first sang it in Jacksonville, Florida, on February 12, 1900. The NAACP adopted it in 1919, and many people call it the Black national anthem. The Library of Congress added a 1990 version led by Melba Moore to its National Recording Registry, and that is the recording here.

    NAACP: Lift Every Voice and Sing

Citizenship test questions on this topic

These civics test questions connect to the anthem, the flag and the Pledge. Each one links to the answers USCIS accepts.

WelcomeOath asks every question out loud and brings back the ones you still miss. The first three lessons are free. See all 128 questions.

Questions people ask

Who wrote The Star-Spangled Banner?

Francis Scott Key, a lawyer from Georgetown, wrote the words in September 1814 after he watched the British navy attack Fort McHenry in Baltimore. The tune came from an English song, "To Anacreon in Heaven," by John Stafford Smith.

When did The Star-Spangled Banner become the national anthem?

President Herbert Hoover signed a law making it the national anthem on March 3, 1931.

What does "the land of the free and the home of the brave" mean?

It is a way of describing the United States as a country of freedom and courage. It is the last line of every stanza.

Do I need to know the lyrics for the citizenship test?

No. The civics test asks only for the name of the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. Reading the words can still help you understand the history.

Why is only the first stanza usually sung?

The song has four stanzas. The first is the one most people know, and it is the one usually sung at games and ceremonies. The other stanzas are in the lyrics above.

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