The Star-Spangled Banner flag at the National Museum of American History

The surviving flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 and inspired Francis Scott Key's poem-later set to music as 'The Star-Spangled Banner'-is preserved in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The roughly 30-by-34-foot flag, made by Mary Young Pickersgill and her workshop in 1813, is a central artifact in the museum's collection and is displayed for public interpretation of the anthem's origins. Museum records and exhibits document the flag's provenance and conservation history.