{"id":1216,"date":"2014-06-05T15:20:25","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T19:20:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=1216"},"modified":"2025-04-18T10:16:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T14:16:12","slug":"national-anthem-sing-along-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/","title":{"rendered":"National Anthem sing-along day"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Key's<\/a>
Key’s original manuscript<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If every American sings loudly enough, Canadians and Mexicans might be able to hear \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d on Flag Day. That\u2019s because every American is being invited to sing the National Anthem<\/a> at 4 p.m. EDT on June 14.<\/p>\n

In addition, \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner<\/a>\u201d — both the original manuscript of the words and the original flag — will be united for the first time to mark the 200<\/span>th<\/span><\/sup> anniversary of the anthem.<\/span><\/p>\n

Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to what would become the National Anthem in September 1814 as he watched Fort McHenry in the Baltimore harbor being shelled by British naval vessels. The song, set to a melody written \u2013 ironically \u2013 by an Englishman, salutes the fort\u2019s flag, which survived a long nighttime bombardment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remnants of that flag now hang at the National Museum of American History, a Smithsonian site in Washington, D.C. For a brief time this summer, June 14-July 6, the original manuscript of Key\u2019s words will be displayed alongside the banner.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to that first-ever coming together, plans are in place to mark the anthem\u2019s bicentennial with a National Sing-Along<\/a> to take place throughout the U.S. on June 14.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Remnants<\/a>
Remnants of the original Star-Spangled Banner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTwo hundred years ago, Francis Scott Key, inspired by the sight of the flag\u2019s \u2018broad stripes and bright stars,\u2019 wrote a song that gave new significance to a national symbol and started a tradition through which Americans have invested the flag with their own meaning and memories,\u201d said John L. Gray, director of the museum, in a press release.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He added that \u201cit is an honor for the museum to be the home of the Star-Spangled Banner and to preserve it for future generations.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRaise It Up! Anthem for America\u201d is the title of the Flag Day celebration. Americans are encouraged to gather as families, club members, communities and other groups to sing \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d simultaneously with others across the nation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"First
First printing of Key’s words, 1814.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Outside the museum in Washington, for example, people will crowd the National Mall for a massive sing-along with the hope of breaking a record for the largest group-sing ever. Throughout America, visitors to historic sites will also be invited to join in the harmony.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>If we\u2019re all enthusiastic, we can add a preamble to the song for our Canadian and Mexican neighbors: \u201cOh, say, can you <\/span><\/span>hear<\/i><\/span><\/span>?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(For more information, visit http:\/\/anthemforamerica.smithsonian.com<\/a>.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If every American sings loudly enough, Canadians and Mexicans might be able to hear \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d on Flag Day. That\u2019s because every American is being invited to sing the National Anthem at 4 p.m. EDT on June 14. In addition, \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d — both the original manuscript of the words and the original… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,105,3,151,103],"class_list":["post-1216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american-flag","tag-francis-scott-key","tag-history","tag-old-glory","tag-star-spangled-banner"],"yoast_head":"\nNational Anthem sing-along day - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If every American sings loudly enough, Canadians and Mexicans might be able to hear \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d on Flag Day. That\u2019s because every American is being invited to sing the National Anthem at 4 p.m. EDT on June 14.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"National Anthem sing-along day - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If every American sings loudly enough, Canadians and Mexicans might be able to hear \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d on Flag Day. That\u2019s because every American is being invited to sing the National Anthem at 4 p.m. EDT on June 14.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-05T19:20:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-18T14:16:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Keys-original-manuscript-600x807.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/\",\"name\":\"National Anthem sing-along day - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Keys-original-manuscript-600x807.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-05T19:20:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-18T14:16:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\"},\"description\":\"If every American sings loudly enough, Canadians and Mexicans might be able to hear \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d on Flag Day. That\u2019s because every American is being invited to sing the National Anthem at 4 p.m. EDT on June 14.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Keys-original-manuscript.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Keys-original-manuscript.jpg\",\"width\":621,\"height\":836,\"caption\":\"Key's original manuscript\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"National Anthem sing-along day\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\",\"name\":\"James Breig\",\"description\":\"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \\\"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\\\" and co-author of \\\"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\\\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/author\/james\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"National Anthem sing-along day - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","description":"If every American sings loudly enough, Canadians and Mexicans might be able to hear \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d on Flag Day. That\u2019s because every American is being invited to sing the National Anthem at 4 p.m. EDT on June 14.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"National Anthem sing-along day - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","og_description":"If every American sings loudly enough, Canadians and Mexicans might be able to hear \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d on Flag Day. That\u2019s because every American is being invited to sing the National Anthem at 4 p.m. EDT on June 14.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/","og_site_name":"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","article_published_time":"2014-06-05T19:20:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-18T14:16:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Keys-original-manuscript-600x807.jpg"}],"author":"James Breig","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Breig","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/","name":"National Anthem sing-along day - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Keys-original-manuscript-600x807.jpg","datePublished":"2014-06-05T19:20:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-18T14:16:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a"},"description":"If every American sings loudly enough, Canadians and Mexicans might be able to hear \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner\u201d on Flag Day. That\u2019s because every American is being invited to sing the National Anthem at 4 p.m. EDT on June 14.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Keys-original-manuscript.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Keys-original-manuscript.jpg","width":621,"height":836,"caption":"Key's original manuscript"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/national-anthem-sing-along-day\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"National Anthem sing-along day"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/","name":"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a","name":"James Breig","description":"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\" and co-author of \"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/author\/james\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1216"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6006,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216\/revisions\/6006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}