On this Flag Day, we have the story of the Star-Spangled Banner from the Smithsonian. This is the American flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key was inspired by this particular flag when he wrote our national anthem in 1813.
Succeeding generations loved and honored the Stars and Stripes, but this flag in particular provided a unique connection to the national narrative. Once it was moved to the Smithsonian Institution in 1907, it remained on almost continuous display. After almost 200 years of service, the flag had slowly deteriorated almost to the point of no return. Removed from exhibit in 1998 for a conservation project that cost about $7 million, the Star-Spangled Banner, as it had become known, returns to center stage this month with the reopening of the renovated National Museum of American History on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Read the story of what happened to the flag from the time it was constructed in Baltimore to its permanent installation at the Smithsonian Institution. Link
(Image credit: Smithsonian Institution)
Newest 5 Comments
Yea, but they rebuilt the white-house. It'd have been better if it stayed burned?
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
they got scammed! for only 4 mil. ill deliver one without holes! (sorry could not resists).
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
For 7 million bucks you would think that they could of bought a better flag
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
Well, I had wondered about that, because I was there in 2006, but I mistrusted my memory. Thanks, SL, I will edit the post.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)
The article you site is three years old. The NMAH finished its renovations in 2008. And although the article mentions a restoration project beginning in 1998, you have been able to see the flag for the past 13 years; in 2008 they moved it from one location within the museum to another.
Abusive comment hidden.
(Show it anyway.)