"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,"
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave
To celebrate their victory over British forces during
the War of 1812, U.S. soldiers raised a large American
flag at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, on
September 14, 1814.
Poet Francis Scott Key was inspired by seeing the
flag after witnessing the fort’s bombardment.
He wrote a poem called "Defence of Fort M'Henry."
This eventually became the Star-Spangled Banner and
the United States of America's national anthem.