Star-Spangled Banner at the National Museum of American History

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History houses the original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 and inspired Francis Scott Key’s poem that became the U.S. national anthem. The flag is conserved and displayed in the museum’s exhibition spaces and is central to the museum’s collections on American political and cultural history. The museum preserves and interprets the flag through rotating displays and conservation work.