Only in1931 was Scott’s song officially adopted as the nation’s anthem. The anthem at that time was a popular patriotic song, but it was still just another patriotic tune.

In 1913, on the song’s hundredth anniversary, a scholarly commission was formed to determine conclusively the song’s origins. His brother-in-law, commander of the militia at Fort McHenry, read Key’s work and had it distributed under the name “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” The Baltimore Patriot newspaper soon printed it, and within weeks, Key’s poem, now renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” appeared in newspapers across the country, immortalizing the words – and forever naming the flag it celebrated. Inspired by the huge American flag flying defiantly above the fort the next morning, Key wrote a verse, which he set to the tune of a popular English song. On September 14, 1814, during the War of 1812 amateur poet Francis Scott Key, standing on board the deck of a British warship, witnessed the massive British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor. If you half paid attention in school you know the Anthem’s story. At first glance the claim seems like pure pub blarney: an Irishman wrote the melody for “The Star Spangled Banner.” There is, however, a strong basis to assert that the melody of our national anthem, in fact, is an adaptation of an Irish tune written by Erin’s greatest composer.

Origin of the star spangled banner song