Today is Flag Day - a seldom celebrated holiday. As a social studies teacher I always try to take opportunities to teach my students about being patriotic so today was no exception. Each morning we start our day by saluting our flag. Pledging our allegiance to the flag and all that it represents, and it is a pledge that I teach others not to take lightly. I started this morning with some facts about flags. Like, did you know that old flags should be either burned or buried? Also, did you know that in the morning the flag should be raised briskly, but at night it should be lowered slowly? I love the ceremonies of our country and think they are too often overlooked.
It was my search of flag facts that led me to think about the story behind the 'Star Spangled Banner' - our National Anthem. Most people know that the words were written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812 as he watched a battle at Fort McHenry, but here are the top 5 things you might not know.
1. The 'song' started out as a poem called 'Defence of Fort McHenry'
2. It has 4 stanzas (the 4th being reserved for more formal occasions)
3. The tune of the song is a British drinking song called, 'The Anacreontic Song' (ironic?)
4. It wasn't voted as the National Anthem until 1931
5. Before this song was our National Anthem, we used 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee' which is the same tune as the British National Anthem.
What can we gather from this? That we need to write our own tunes and stop borrowing from the British! Hmmm...Remind you of anything?
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